LinkedIn will air its first ever TV advert to nearly 40 million people during the Oscars show on Sunday. It comes just weeks after Linkedin's stock tumbled by 44% when it announced its quarterly earnings.
Narrated by Linkedin's chief executive Jeff Weiner, the Gravity-esque commercial, called "You're closer than you think," tells the story of when NASA used LinkedIn to look for its next astronaut. The networking website says its data found 3 million users who were qualified to apply for the role.
"The astronaut is a universal symbol of a dream job," Nick Bartle, LinkedIn's vice president of marketing, told the Wall Street Journal. "We believe inside all of our members there is a moonshot for an astronaut-like job out there."
The ad is expected to cost LinkedIn roughly $2 million, according to data from Kantar Media on the average price for a 30-second window during the show.
Last year's US Oscars audience was made up of 36.6 million, but this was down 16% from the 43.7 million people who watched the show in 2014. This year's ceremony has already faced criticism over the lack of ethnic diversity of nominees. The #OscarsSoWhite controversy marks the second consecutive year in which only white actors were nominated in the acting categories.
The spot was created by BBDO San Francisco and it is part of a wider campaign, including a print ad in the New York Times and digital marketing.
