Image source: LBB
Jamie Oliver has decided that the world may have run out of ways to cook chicken. For a man whose career has been built around food, that is reason enough for an identity crisis. He leaves the kitchen and sets off in search of himself, from regression hypnosis and floating in an isolation tank to an encounter with a nudist cult in the woods. The only problem is that, geographically at least, he never actually gets lost.
That contradiction is at the heart of Finding Jamie (While He’s Finding Himself), a new microdrama series through which the family connection and safety app Life360 and Jamie Oliver have begun a year-long partnership. In short episodes created for social media, Oliver attempts to find a new sense of purpose, while his real-life family, wife Jools and their children, use Life360 to track his location and see where his search has taken him this time.
https://youtu.be/o733lJhFt44?si=G1G0bSQc8R73zav3
The app is therefore not inserted into the story afterwards simply as a product that needs to be shown. Its core function becomes part of the plot. The further Jamie moves away from everyday life while trying to lose himself in various wellness and spiritual practices, the easier it is for his family to establish exactly where he is. The series also features comedian Will Hislop as his overly ambitious but not particularly capable life coach.
The relationship between Oliver and the brand predates the partnership itself. Jamie, Jools and their five children have used Life360 for more than ten years to help organise family life. Among other things, the app helped them stay connected while their eldest daughter Poppy was travelling around Australia, while their dog Conker also uses a Life360 Pet GPS tracker. That existing family habit became the basis for the creative idea, rather than the partnership beginning with the conventional appointment of a celebrity face to promote a product.
The series also uses Oliver’s own career as material for the joke. His search for himself includes references to The Naked Chef, the format that made him famous in the late 1990s, as well as to his long-running campaign against Turkey Twizzlers. Instead of appearing in yet another cooking format, Oliver takes part in a comedy that deliberately plays with his public image and his willingness to make fun of himself.
Finding Jamie (While He’s Finding Himself) was conceived and produced by creative company Baby Teeth, which Jamie Oliver Group appointed earlier this year as its creative and strategic partner. This is the first published work to emerge from that collaboration and forms part of the group’s broader interest in developing new formats and IP tailored to the way audiences consume content today. The series is directed by Tom Kingsley, known for his work on Stath Lets Flats and Ghosts.
