Ricky Gervais Phones In These Hilariously Honest Ads Introducing Netflix to Australia

Ricky Gervais is the ultimate anti-pitchman in this amusing set of ads for Australian broadband and cable company Optus, promoting its deal to bring Netflix to the country.

The creator of The Office and Extras, who's done Netflix ads before, is less interested in talking about Optus and more interested in boasting about how much they paid him and how little effort he put into the pitch. He also delivers the whole message in his trademark stupidly arrogant David Brent style.

There's also a funny spot in which he rushes to get the talking points in before the ad-skip button appears for YouTube viewers.

The campaign was created by APN News & Media's content marketing arm Emotive in collaboration with M&C Saatchi and Fuel Communications.

"Allowing Ricky to take control of the scripts and deliver it with his globally renowned comedy style was a bold move which could only happen with a progressive brand like Optus. We're all chuffed with the result," says Emotive CEO Simon Joyce.