Yes, that's Publicis Groupe CEO Maurice Lévy...

In a hilarious digital film that parodies the advertising business, Publicis Groupe CEO Maurice Lévy talks about his agency's achievements and targets.

Continuing the tradition of its holiday messaging with a twist, Publicis Groupe CEO, Maurice Lévy has outdone himself this year. The video, titled The Skippable Wishes, starts with the boss man at his desk deliver New Year wishes to his clients and employees. As the viewer expects Lévy's signature tricks, he quickly adds, "Times are too tough to play around, so don't expect anything funny or any technological tricks".

Noting that people often skip ads to watch the video content, he surprises viewers by urging them to "skip him" and instead, watch some ads. The amused viewer is then introduced to the 'Skip Maurice' button.

The button takes the viewer to a series of fake ads which features Lévy in prominent cameos. These ads are designed to showcase popular product categories in the ad world such as yoghurt, detergent, toothpaste, dish washing liquid, and shampoo.

Lévy takes centre stage as he acts, along with other models in these ads, simultaneously talking with the viewer about the year gone by and the targets for 2016. As he talks of the product details, he smartly weaves his Groupe's progress and expectations in the script. The result is chuckle-worthy.

Halfway through, he startles the viewer in the fake shampoo ad by sporting a wig and mimicking the signature moves of models required in a shampoo commercial.

"I agree that it is important to have good hair," says Levy. "It's important to realise that it always take some time to lay a rock solid basis for building our future," he adds further.

And, before you can guess, he springs the by now famous L'Oreal Paris tagline, 'Because, you're worth it!'.

The toothpaste ad reveals Groupe's forecasts as Lévy carries on. "The year 2016 will be one of no silo, no solo, no bozo, where we are committed to tear down silos at the services of our client's transformation and our own," says Levy.

He concludes the address with the dishwashing liquid ad stating that he can't wait to show his clients the power of one and wishes everyone a happy and healthy New Year.

The video has been executed by the Publicis-owned agency Marcel and the production firm Prodigious.

Fun-tastic!

Reacting to the innovative messaging, K V Sridhar, aka 'Pops', chief creative officer, SapientNitro, India, says his first reaction to the video was "Brilliant!".

According to him, Lévy has pulled the video with finesse like any seasoned actor would. The video is well-crafted and has been created very seriously, with a nice touch at several places, says Sridhar.

"I would love to see a video response from Martin Sorell. Competitors must also have fun with each other. When big brothers fight, the young ones just sit and enjoy," chuckles Sridhar.

Quite a sport himself, Sridhar has performed the famous scene in the cult film Deewar, featuring Amitabh Bachchan, in which he says, "Aaj khush toh bohat hoge tum", for Goafest 2013.

"We must have the ability to laugh at ourselves. This is a fun industry, but we often get bogged down by politics and competition. Just imagine, if industry veterans such as Sunder Swamy or Arvind Sharma did something similar, it will be quite fun," smiles Sridhar.