The archive · Advertising · Marketing decision · 2025–2026
Telstra hires Steve Buscemi as a bumbling alien scam emperor to sell network security
To sell network security, Telstra cast Steve Buscemi as an evil alien emperor whose hi-tech scams keep failing against its network — 18.7M views in two weeks.
Telstra · Bear Meets Eagle On Fire · Smuggler
What it had to solve
Telstra's earlier ads only promoted network coverage, but after high-profile hacks in the industry the brand needed to prove its security. The category defaulted to fear-based warnings about scammers, so the brief was to show how many threats Telstra blocks in a more distinctive, memorable way.
How it works
Telstra, Australia's biggest mobile network, had long advertised its coverage, but after high-profile telecom hacks the brand needed to make its security the story. The category standard was fear: ads warning about scammers. Bear Meets Eagle On Fire instead built a comedy universe around an existential threat — an evil alien emperor, played by Steve Buscemi, and his Zalunian minions, whose hi-tech scams keep failing against Telstra's network.
The campaign, made with partner agency +61 and directed by Randy Krallman of Smuggler, consisted of several films — 'Scamageddon', 'Deceiver Lever', 'Scamalanche' and more — in long and short formats, rolling out across TV, digital, social, cinema and Telstra stores from August 2025. Telstra's head of brand called it 'essentially a product demo, a very entertaining one, that differentiates our network not just on size, but also on safety'.
Within the first two weeks the work hit its full campaign targets: 18.7M completed views, a 329% increase in traffic to Telstra's security hub and 33K new device-security activations. Brand tracking added a 46% uplift in feeling better about the brand, 75% key-message takeout and large search spikes for both the ad and Buscemi.
The universe paid off on the awards circuit too: Silver in Film at Spikes Asia 2026, and a Bronze and a Finalist at LIA 2025, while trade coverage framed it as proof that humor can out-deliver scaremongering in a category built on fear.
Why it lands
- Flipping the category's fear-based norm into comedy makes a security claim memorable instead of anxiety that people scroll past.
- Casting a beloved actor as the villain makes the product the hero of every scene, tying entertainment directly to capability.
- An alien empire is a franchise: endless scam plots, formats and cutdowns, so the idea scales across TV, social and stores.
- The films work as an entertaining product demo, so the creative and the brand promise never separate.
What it did
Within two weeks the campaign hit its full targets: 18.7M completed views, a 329% increase in traffic to Telstra's security hub and 33K new device-security activations. Brand tracking showed a 46% uplift in feeling better about the brand, 75% key-message takeout, and big search spikes for 'New Telstra Ad' and 'Steve Buscemi Telstra Ad'. It won Silver in Film at Spikes Asia 2026 and a Bronze plus Finalist at LIA 2025.
What you can take
A serious product promise can be demonstrated with comedy: make the threat a character and the product the punchline, and the safety message gets remembered instead of tuned out.
Since then
Telstra and Bear Meets Eagle On Fire continued the Zalunian universe through late 2025, and the campaign collected Silver at Spikes Asia 2026 in Film, a Bronze and Finalist at LIA 2025, and a Ciclope 2026 win, with wide coverage in the Australian trade press. The work became a reference point for making cyber-safety messaging comic rather than scary.
Sources
- Telstra 'Villains' campaign — LIA 2025 entry (Scamageddon, Deceiver Lever, Scamalanche)
- Telstra unleashes Steve Buscemi as an evil intergalactic Emperor in new network security campaign
- Villains | Campaign — Telstra
- Spikes Asia Film Winners & Shortlists 2026
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