This Scrabble ad is a word lover’s meet-cute dream come true

Everyone likes a good love story — and Scrabble’s latest ad is here to make all of our word nerd, meet-cute dreams come true. Created by Lola Madrid and directed by Rodrigo Saavedra, the ad tells the story of Agostina and Santiago: Two lonely humans looking for love. At the beginning of the spot, they’ve never met — but their lives are perfectly paralleled, thanks to the help of some very clever anagrams. (In case you missed it, that includes their names.) She lives in Tokyo, he lives in Kyoto; she’s a cab driver, and he’s a crab diver; she worries about being “forever alone,” and he feels as boring as “a veneer floor.” You get the idea.

“The idea of using anagrams was a way to salute the intelligence of avid Scrabble players, but by using a love story, the spot became universal,” Pancho Cassis, executive creative director at Lola Madrid, told Adweek. “This communication was aimed at opening up to a broader audience, specifically younger players and non-players who spend a lot of time online but are seeking out offline experiences.”

Some of the anagrams are a little odd (“negotiate moths” and “something to eat,” just to name one), but overall, the ad is ridiculously satisfying for anyone who’s into some good old fashioned wordplay. It’s essentially an homage to what Scrabble players actually do during a game (aka, rearrange letters to make words), placed in a much more accessible context — and we love it.

The whole thing has vague Wes Anderson vibes (soft colors, people dressed in quirky costumes, etc.), but that only adds to the appeal and helps make some of the weirder anagrams work. (Of course the girl dressed up as “an apple pie” ends up with the boy dressed up as “a pineapple”!) The ad is fun, delightfully weird, and very adorable — well worth a watch regardless of your stance on Scrabble.

As Cassis told Adweek, the purpose of the ad “is to convey that words are magical and powerful, and that they connect us with people.” We think it more than succeeded.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nOgcEykrdXI

(Image via video.)