Time Internet Turns CNY 2024 Into a Connectivity Conversation
Time Internet's "Your Father's Ad" is a 2024 Chinese New Year integrated campaign created by Fishermen Integrated and produced by Graph Studio in Malaysia, using self-aware comedy to introduce the brand's customisable "Kabel Besar" internet plans starting from RM99 per month during the Lunar New Year festive season.
The campaign launched in February 2024 across Malaysia, anchoring itself to one of the year's highest-reach cultural moments. At the heart of the film is a deliberate provocation: an Indian family appears on screen and questions why they are starring in a Chinese New Year advertisement. The conceit is both the creative hook and the strategic message. If Time Internet lets you customise your connectivity however you choose, then why shouldn't its festive advertising reflect that same freedom? The tagline — "You think this is your father's ad ah?" — borrows from a Malaysian colloquial expression of ownership and entitlement, flipping it into a celebration of personal agency.
The film unfolds across a reunion dinner setting, a scene deeply embedded in CNY 2024 tradition, while each family member slips into an imaginative "avatar" shaped by their own interests and passions. Six languages and dialects appear throughout the film, according to reporting by Weekender Com My, grounding the narrative in Malaysia's multicultural everyday reality rather than a sanitised festive ideal. The campaign ran as a fully integrated effort spanning digital, above-the-line, radio, and out-of-home touchpoints, as documented by Marketingmagazine Com My, ensuring the "Your Father's Ad" premise reached audiences well beyond the original online film. The Clapboard Score for this campaign is 63 out of 100.
Time Internet operates in a Malaysian fixed-broadband market defined by asymmetric competition. Telekom Malaysia's Unifi retains a significant lead and what researchandmarkets.com describes as an almost monopolistic position among incumbent providers, making acquisition campaigns a structural priority for challengers. Against this backdrop, Time Internet's decision to use CNY 2024 as an acquisition moment — rather than a purely brand-building one — reflects a calculated commercial posture.
The "Kabel Besar" platform, introduced by Time Internet in late 2021 according to clapboard.com, exploits a productive double meaning embedded in Malaysian vernacular. Literally, it references Time's 100% fibre cable infrastructure. Figuratively, "kabel besar" is a cultural shorthand for having the right connections to get things done — a concept that resonates across ethnic communities in Malaysia. By 2023, the platform had already featured Malaysian celebrities Dato' Jalaluddin Hassan, Datuk Paduka Mustapha Kamal, and Joanne Kam in a campaign promoting a 1Gbps plan at RM149, as documented by marketingmagazine.com.my. "Your Father's Ad" extended this equity while lowering the entry price point to RM99 per month under the "Kabel Besar" banner, broadening the accessible audience ahead of the Lunar New Year peak.
The market context reinforces the timing. TIME reported approximately 479,000 subscribers in 2024 compared with 435,000 in 2023, representing roughly 10.1% year-on-year growth, according to data cited by ceicdata.com. The campaign's multicultural casting directly addresses the full breadth of Malaysia's consumer base — a population that Maxis and CelcomDigi also compete for across fixed and mobile convergence — signalling that Time Internet's growth ambitions extend beyond any single demographic segment.
Director Derrik Yaw of Graph Studio helmed the production of "Your Father's Ad", shaping a film that balances broad festive warmth with sharp metacommentary. The creative team at Fishermen Integrated was led by Executive Creative Directors Andrew Tan and Adam Miranda, with copywriting by Deborah Woong and art direction from Senior Art Director YK Tan and Art Director Ray Tan of Something Reel Studio, as credited by Marketing Interactive.
The film's central device — an Indian family breaking the fourth wall to interrogate their own presence in a Chinese New Year advertisement — requires precise tonal calibration. Played too broadly, it collapses into condescension; played too flat, the humour evaporates entirely. Yaw's direction sustains the comedic register by grounding each character's "avatar" sequence in genuine warmth rather than parody, so the multicultural casting reads as inclusive rather than performative. The reunion dinner tableau, a visual convention that every Malaysian viewer immediately recognises as a CNY signifier, provides the stable reference point against which the film's self-aware disruptions land cleanly.
The use of licensed and adapted music, credited to Graph Studio, was distinctive enough to earn separate recognition at the Kancil Awards 2024, according to kancilawards.com. Music functions structurally in the film: each character's avatar sequence carries its own sonic identity, allowing the soundtrack to mirror the campaign's core argument about personal customisation. Account leadership came from Account Director Theresa Arthur, Senior Account Manager Dylan Cheong, and Account Executive Faith Lum, while Group Brand Director Joyce Gan and Group Head of Marketing Andrew Yeoh are credited as senior client and agency leads overseeing the campaign, as noted by marketing-interactive.com. The integration of six languages and dialects within a single short-form film represents a production complexity that is rarely attempted — and even more rarely executed without feeling unwieldy.
"Your Father's Ad" earned verified industry recognition across multiple competitions following its February 2024 launch in Malaysia. The campaign won Silver in the Film (Online): Single category at the Kancil Awards 2024, according to kancilawards.com. It also received a Merit at the same awards for Use of Licensed and Adapted Music, with Graph Studio credited as collaborator, again per kancilawards.com. At APPIES Malaysia 2024, the campaign won Bronze in the Best in Festive category for advertiser Time dotCom Bhd and agency Fishermen Integrated, as confirmed by Archive Marketingmagazine Com My.
The original online film generated approximately 372,949 views and 138 likes on its documented platform distribution, as recorded in campaign metadata cited by clapboard.com. No independently verified sales or subscriber-acquisition figures attributable specifically to this campaign are publicly available. What the market data does confirm is directional: TIME reported approximately 479,000 subscribers in 2024, up from approximately 435,000 in 2023, according to ceicdata.com, representing a period of sustained growth coinciding with the campaign's active window.
Structurally, the campaign's effectiveness is best understood through its dual function. The "Your Father's Ad" premise generates earned attention by inverting CNY advertising conventions, while the product call-to-action — RM99 per month Kabel Besar plans — provides a clear conversion pathway. The multilingual execution and multicultural casting expand the addressable audience beyond a single demographic, directly supporting Time Internet's stated objective, documented by clapboard.com, of reigniting acquisition through campaigns tailored to consumer needs.
"Your Father's Ad" is a CNY 2024 campaign by Time Internet and Fishermen Integrated in Malaysia. It features an Indian family questioning their presence in a Chinese New Year film, using self-aware comedy to promote customisable Kabel Besar internet plans starting from RM99 per month. It launched in February 2024.
Director Derrik Yaw of Graph Studio directed the film. Creative direction came from Executive Creative Directors Andrew Tan and Adam Miranda at Fishermen Integrated, with copywriting by Deborah Woong. The campaign was produced in Malaysia for CNY 2024, with Graph Studio also earning recognition for its adapted music work.
The campaign won Silver in Film (Online): Single and a Merit for Use of Licensed and Adapted Music at the Kancil Awards 2024, according to kancilawards.com. It also won Bronze in Best in Festive at APPIES Malaysia 2024, as confirmed by archive.marketingmagazine.com.my, recognising advertiser Time dotCom Bhd and agency Fishermen Integrated.
Kabel Besar is Time Internet's brand platform introduced in late 2021, according to clapboard.com. It carries a double meaning in Malaysian vernacular: Time's physical fibre cable infrastructure and the cultural concept of having the right connections. The 2024 CNY campaign promoted Kabel Besar customisable plans starting from RM99 per month.
Six languages and dialects appear in the film, according to weekender.com.my. This multilingual approach reflects Malaysia's multicultural population and directly supports Time Internet's campaign objective of reaching diverse consumer segments. The technique reinforces the brand's core message that connectivity should be personal and customisable for every individual.
Time Internet's "Your Father's Ad" receives a Clapboard Score of 63 out of 100. The score reflects the campaign's strong creative concept and verified award recognition, balanced against the structural challenges of converting festive brand entertainment into measurable acquisition outcomes across Malaysia's competitive fixed-broadband market.
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