Mattresses and Coin Jars Have No Place in Money Management, Greenlight Says

If you keep all your money in a mattress, falcons are bound to peck through the bedding and fly off with the cash. It stands to reason.

Greenlight, the banking app for kids, skewers such outdated ways of saving money in fresh spots from Haymaker. 

They just want a little nest egg. Kaw kaw!

“When I explain to people what Greenlight is, there isn’t one person who doesn’t say ‘I wish I had that when I was a kid,'” says Haymaker creative director Natasha Hugeback. “Learning about money is such a powerful tool, and it’s refreshing to work on a brand that is so passionate about leveling the playing field when it comes to financial literacy for all.”

Tagged “Bring Your Family Into the Financial Future,” spots landed last week.

“Our cast was incredible with improv and physical comedy, so we definitely had a lot to play with. Our red-tailed hawk was the real star, though,” Hugeback tells Muse. “Working with animals is always challenging, just because you never know what you’re going to get. We got about five takes of the bird flying on the bed, picking up food (that we would later turn into CG money), and flying away. Watching it come together in post, it just wasn’t chaotic or funny enough.”

So, what was your solution?

“Working fast, we teamed up with the incredible team over at Chapeau Studios and had them layer two different takes of our original hawk and simulate two birds wreaking havoc on the mattress,” she says “The money, the fluff, the feathers, the dust particles—everything you see in the final shot is thanks to Chapeau and the magic of VFX.”

Other quickie vids in the series are set in the somewhat recent past. They focus on pneumatic tubes, pay phones, crickets and coin jars.

Epoch’s Ruganzu “Riggs” Howard directs with supple sitcom style. The jokes hit but don’t work too hard. This approach backs the basic message without getting caught up in too many details.

The work plays like cut-rate versions of Greenlight’s 2022 Super Bowl commercial with Ty Burrell—in a good way. No belly laughs, but a few chuckles worth a small investment of time and attention.

“At Greenlight, we’re always looking for ways to build meaningful connections with parents so we can empower them to raise financially smart kids,” says Devin Zimmerman, VP of brand. “Our new TV campaign marks the latest step in our creative evolution as a brand—using humor and nostalgia to relate to today’s generation of parents while demonstrating the importance of financial literacy in building brighter futures for their families.”