People Are More Than Numbers in Bank's Anti-Dystopian Vision

Meridian channels 1984 (and other numerals, too)

We already live in a dystopian nightmare. So here’s another one, courtesy of Meridian Bank.

It’s all about reducing our daily existence to numbers. So, we get the old Orwellian dehumanizing routine, 40 years past 1984.

Naturally, Meridian’s different. Because banks are all about treating everyone as individuals, and numerals never enter their calculations.

That’s a cynical view, of course. Perhaps for some, it will dilute the impact of an otherwise outstanding short film developed by Elemental and Impossible Studios.

With muted hues and a droning (maddening?) soundtrack plus unsettling camera angles, director Dan French nails the ebb and flow of the not-so-brave new world we inhabit today. In the clip, our dismal existence is exaggerated. But just a bit. It’s still recognizable as 2024, without minimal sci-fi distractions.

No names, please. Everyone’s identified by numbers. At one point, a banner reading “Marry me, Account #749332” trails behind a plane.

But it’s a commercial. So…

…at least one lucky customer banks happily ever after.

“We knew from the start that this would weigh heavily on world building to get a great payoff,” French tells Muse. “Once you’ve set the idea up, you want the audience to stay engaged and even start to guess what’s coming next. So, I wanted to get as much as we could in-camera. I’ve always relied a lot on visual effects in my work. But during pre-production this felt like it needed great locations and some amazing art direction to give it some character.”

Indeed, his approach certainly excels in that regard. French rocks a strong narrative and sure style that work completely apart from Meridian’s pitch, while also driving home the brand proposition.

“The locations helped set the tone and we built on top of them,” French says. “We cleared out an old diner and created our white, bland coffee-shop interior, and even did the balloons outside the library for real. Annoyingly, everyone keeps asking if they’re CG. And of course, on set after one gust of wind, they blew off halfway across Lithuania [where the ad was filmed].”

“I didn’t fully regret the practical approach at that moment. But I was close. In the end, however, I think you can feel it.”

True enough. It’s just a shame that banks have to keep trying to convince us of their kind intentions.

In fact, anti-dystopian ads are almost a category trope. Meridian follows the lead of Tangerine Bank, which used jumping through hoops as its main metaphor in an impressive campaign last year.