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Westpac’s ‘powerful’, ‘moving’ and ‘brave’ ad about death wins Mumbrella’s July Ad of the Month

Mumbrella has revealed the winner of the July edition of Ad of the Month, with the industry choosing between Lynx, Australia Post, Westpac, Royal Far West and Kia.

Westpac’s “powerful” and “creative” ad about life and death has won Mumbrella’s July Ad of the Month.

Westpac’s ad which supports those grieving by highlighting the budding romance between a young man and women and chronicles the couples life together, scored 53% of the votes.

One voter said: “It brings to life an often avoided topic of what is an unavoidable life moment, using a well-executed balance of humour, romance and empathy. It shows a real human side to banks who are often perceived as devoid of emotion, and reminds us that they are there to help us through loss.”

“Death is such a difficult topic to discuss, let alone advertise. I think it’s a brave decision (especially at such a complicated time in financial services) and they nailed it by telling the story in such a beautiful, thoughtful and respectful way,” another voter commented.

Other voters said it was the only ad they had remembered seeing and labelled the ad as “the most beautiful ad on TV in a long time”.

This is the second time Westpac has won Mumbrella’s Ad of the Month after it took home Mumbrella’s April Ad of the Month for its “captivating”, “heartwarming” and “inspirational” ‘Help. It’s what Australians do’ ad.

Jenny Melhuish, Westpac’s group head of group brands, advertising & media, said in a statement to Mumbrella: “We are really proud of this work and feel it plays an important role in connecting us with Australians.

“We know losing a loved one can be one of the most difficult times in someone’s life, and that almost a third of our customers who lose a loved one will experience financial hardship within the first 12 months. In this work we wanted to capture the essence of support and let customers know they can reach out for help over the phone, online or by visiting us in branch.

“It has been such a privilege to see this work come together. What you see on screen is the result of a great cross functional team working together to talk to an important moment for Australians.”

Ben Welsh, chief creative officer at DDB, added: “This is a very Australian story about an immigrant coming to a small Australian town. But it’s as much about small Australian communities as it is about the main character himself.

“We’re really proud of this heartfelt piece of storytelling. It was a great script and was beautifully brought to life through the eyes of Director Christopher Riggert.”

  • Agencies and brands involved in creating ads that first run during April are invited to put them forward for consideration. Please email abigail@mumbrella.com.au
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