C Prinz Turns Living Rooms into Scrolling Reels for Instagram’s TV Launch

Instagram has launched a new campaign promoting the arrival of Reels on connected TV, marking the platform’s first expansion beyond mobile and desktop screens.

Created by Special US and directed by SMUGGLER’s C Prinz, the campaign reimagines Instagram’s signature scrolling behaviour for the living room. Using a custom-built film technique and innovative post production from Brash, each time a Reel scrolls up on screen, the entire physical space, including the furniture and people inside it, moves upward too, creating the effect that the room itself is scrolling.

The 30-second spot features six creators and artists spanning different content categories – including food creator Zach Choi, snowboarder Zeb Powell, and artists Its.Emei and Norah Yarah Rosa. The aim is to demonstrate how Reels on TV can bring entertainment that feels distinct from traditional streaming platforms.

“Now that Instagram Reels are on TV, we took a behaviour that felt so inherently tied to your phone, and brought it out into the living room,” says Alyssa Cavanaugh, creative director at Special US. “The device of scrolling felt like such a quick, immediate ‘get’ that mimics Instagram Reels. It also let us show off a nice variety of different groups enjoying Reels on TV together in a way that felt simple and dynamic.”


The work aims to show how Reels can translate from a personal, mobile-first format into a communal entertainment experience, extending Instagram’s presence into the living room and onto streaming surfaces where people already gather.

Speaking with LBB, Instagram’s global head of marketing, Jake O’Leary, says the move to make the platform available on TV was pushed by user research. “We've heard from our community that they want to watch Reels on TV with their friends and family,” he says. “So we started testing Instagram for TV so they can watch Reels from their favorite creators and see what's trending, on a big screen from the comfort of their living room."

Beyond the product launch itself, the campaign reflects Instagram’s evolved brand positioning, which centres on creator content, maintains a raw yet refined visual aesthetic, and humanises the app experience through emotional benefits rather than functional features.

By bringing Reels to TV, Instagram is also tapping into the growing trend of social viewing, creating new opportunities for creators to reach audiences in more communal settings.

Although each scene was crafted to match the TV placement in the different environments, Special US associate creative director Lex Singer says the scrolling effect was done entirely in post by their partners at Brash. “We really wanted to make sure the scrolling felt as authentic to Instagram Reels as possible,” she adds. “So some of the scrolls are faster, some are a little delayed, and some even scroll back, just like you would on your phone.”

The campaign supports the launch of Instagram Reels on Amazon Fire TV devices in the US, allowing users to watch curated Reels content directly on their televisions.

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