• by Barbara Lippert , Columnist, August 15, 2024

In this spot for Fiverr, the global freelance platform, the joke is that a clueless pair of millennial bosses are dismissive of Martha Stewart, who shows up at the office as their intern.

We don’t get any backstory on how this happened, but they didn’t seem to hire her on Fiverr, which is a little confusing.

The spot opens on a generic office setting with this snarky millennial pair standing in front of a workstation with the Fiverr homepage up on the computer.

The dude of the duo says, “We can just hire someone on Fiverr to do it. No big deal.” 

That “no big deal – just hire someone” also comes off as weirdly disconnected. Don’t they want to find someone truly extraordinary on Fiverr? And doesn’t Fiverr give them the capacity to do that?

Enter Martha, carrying a cardboard tray with two paper coffee cups. “Here’s your coffee,” she says. And the young woman boss, who has severe resting bitch face, is condescending in every way.

“Best intern ever!” she fake exclaims as she reaches over to grab the cuppa joe.

Wait a second. This seems ridiculous. There’s something very off about the energy here. You don’t get to condescend to Martha Stewart.

She condescends to you.

Though she is tamping herself down for the role, carrying coffee while wearing her plain denim shirt, Martha constitutionally cannot take a back seat.

Putting her in this position is almost criminal.

She did, after all, go to jail, practically run the place, and come back stronger.

Though “Martha the intern” may sound like an amusing conceit, it doesn’t work. Martha-the-domestic doyenne-business mogul would take over every department and improve the products, design a more interesting office space, rewire the light fixtures and cater lunch.

Standing as still as a sculpture in the spot, Martha does speak up. But she seems stiff and stilted, not the Martha whom the camera loves.

She sees Fiverr on the computer, and asks if they’re “Working on something big?  A new campaign?”

The guy responds, “New towel design for the summer swag.” 

“Are we sure we’re making the best use of our talent?” Martha – the towel queen – asks.  

But as much as she enunciates like Martha, this character is so not Martha, who otherwise can sell everything from a candle with a severed hand to vodka, to fertilizer, to a meal plan, all while making fun of herself.

Her supernormal range of energy and hilarious standards are missing. Rather, she stands there like Lurch.

Also absent is the sheer chemistry and vivacity she has with a guy like Snoop Dogg, whether cooking, making weed jokes, or selling pens.

But back in the commercial, which will run online and on TV, the millennial boss-woman doesn’t want the intern asking questions or making suggestions, so she shuts her down by telling her to go get oat milk.

“Sometimes great talent is under your nose,” Martha says.

The former Omnimedia CEO then voices the end line, “Make better use of freelance talent for your business.”  

What has been clearly illustrated here is how badly older professionals are treated in the workplace, but that’s a whole different subject.

What is a bit murkier is how to access the great marketplace of talent on Fiverrr. It’s not “under your nose” – it’s on the site. Nobody’s seen clicking away.

There’ll be other videos with Martha covering more specific topics, like social media marketing, web development, and AI, so she can be Martha the teacher.

To that end, three lucky Fiverr users who entered a contest will win a 30-minute business consultation session with Martha the magnate.

The last scene in the spot shows the vapid bosses trying to remember her name. “I wanna say, Barbara?” the mean girl posits. (I speak for other old Barbaras when I say, “we are not amused.”)

While parts of it are funny, the ad does less to sell Fiverr and more to make fun of self-involved millennials in business. 

And not remembering Martha’s name is a perfect analogy for how the scenario erases what’s unique about Martha – her vision, discipline, unstoppable work ethic, and talent for reinventing herself on the internet, even at 82.

For Martha, any job is an opportunity for excellence. But this one is not quite the right fit.