A Determined Slug Shows His Mettle for Wealthsimple

Martin de Thurah directed

And the award for best performance in a commercial by a terrestrial mollusk goes to…

Weathsimple’s irrepressible slug, who lets nothing stand in his way during a journey across the sidewalk.

Epoch Films’ Martin de Thurah directed the :60 below. We follow the slimy critter as he overcomes raindrops, pavement cracks and other obstacles, always keeping his eye on the prize.

Adorable. But maybe just go around the stone next time?

“Hearing the slug describe a rock as if it was some kind of impossible mountain reminds us that everything in life is in perspective,” says de Thurah. “Human life is an eternal struggle in which every challenge we overcome delivers us to the start of a new challenge.”

“It sounds exhausting, and sometimes it is, but it is also filled with the tantalizing light of hope. That sense of slow progress—illusory or not—gives our lives purpose,” he says.

The team set out to take a “kind of gross” slug “and make him heroic. Not in the sense that he can save planet Earth from Elon Musk. But just by being able to move forward—that’s heroic,” creative director and copywriter Devin Friedman tells Muse.

De Thurah tapped BaconX for the spot’s animation.

“It was an incredibly number of tweaks and edits and notes on antennae movement,” Friedman recalls.

“This work is meant to reflect the weirdness of this specific moment—financially, metaphysically,” he says. “Sometimes we’re launching a product and we make work about that. Sometimes, like now, we’re just saying: ‘We have a realistic idea about what things are like and we’re here to help.'”

The ad broke on Sunday’s Golden Globes telecast and will also air during Canadian broadcasts of Super Bowl LIX.