Finding friends on 5FM

The lonely finger is no longer lonely: Radio station 5FM has given him four other finger friends to party with as revealed in the final television commercial that has ended weeks of speculation on who and what was behind the forlorn finger.

Devised by Net#work BBDO, this campaign was all about the art of unconventional advertising. Ten teaser television commercials depicting one pathetic finger in lonely situations ran for weeks eliciting a staggering 60 000 first time hits on the lonelyfinger.com website.

This was backed up by street posters, stickers, flyers and banners, which were prolifically distributed at University campuses.

Working off the premise that with 5FM there is never a lonely moment, the agency's creative director Stuart Stobbs says: "The response has been overwhelming, which underpins our belief that compelling content is a magnet for people. The station's youthful target market is fully immersed in the Internet world where everyone can become a participant and participation is the new currency for brands. When you can get an audience to come to you, to engage and to interact on a large scale like this - what a powerful key to getting an advertiser's message across."

The final reveal commercial reiterates the finger's lonely scenarios. In a desperate ditch to find friends, it enters a disco and up pops not one, but four finger friends. Then the whole hand appears with the words: "Life's Better with 5".

5FM station manager John Langford says: "This never been seen before campaign reflects the essence of a 5FM listeners' mindset - everything is better when done in a group."