Mikey Havoc and Hayley Holt star in “Rambo’s Undies” for Kiwi owned appliance brand Parmco

When a kitchen appliance brand launches an advertising campaign with the title ‘Rambo’s Undies’ and starring roles played by Mikey Havoc and Hayley Holt you know you won’t be getting a standard appliance ad.

And that’s exactly what 100% Kiwi owned appliance brand Parmco was after when they signed off on the Parmco Challenge, a campaign designed to gain maximum cut through in a cluttered category.

The first episode ‘Rambo’s Undies’ launches online today with the following four episodes (Parmco Sucks, Cold Beer in a Power Cut, Hob-Knobbing with a Spartan, and Hayley’s Puppies) rolling out across September and October.

The campaign will be supported with an extensive online campaign utilising social media channels, cinema, and TV advertising. 

Roger Battersby, managing director of Parmco, explains: “With a huge number of appliance brands in the market we wanted a campaign that stands out and entertains – the Parmco Challenge does this whilst demonstrating our products in a unique and highly entertaining way.”

Altogether five episodes have been shot and will be rolled out online over the next two months. Director of the campaign Mike Reihana expands on the inspiration behind the concept: “It’s like Top Gear meets the Peter Jackson classic ‘Bad Taste’ – we take kitchen appliances put them into some surreal settings, use extreme hyperbole, and throw in loads of guns and grenades to show how good the Parmco gear is. It was a blast to make – both literally and figuratively.”

Lead ‘product demonstrator’ Mikey Havoc agrees: “It’s not often you get a script that comes this far out of left field and includes explosions, Hayley Holt chasing you with a machine guns, and the fight to the death with a Spartan warrior – and it’s for kitchen appliances; genius.”

Hayley Holt, no stranger to unusual co-stars from her time on the ‘Crowd Goes Wild’ and ‘Dancing With Stars’ also found the campaign refreshingly different: “I have a lot of fun on Crowd Goes Wild but the Parmco Challenge stepped things up with a special effects and pyrotechnics. I’m getting my agent to find me some roles in action flicks.”