Steve the Goldfish and a Potted Plant Back Barclaycard

Not much happens in a pair of spots for Barclaycard. But they’re quietly compelling just the same.

First, Steve the goldfish floats around his aquarium in a boutique hotel restaurant. “Steve is happy because he recently got a new tank,” a voiceover says. “He got a new tank because the owner gets triple cash back on business spending for three months with Barclaycard payments. But that’s not all Steve got.”

“He also got a date that will go on for the rest of his life,” the ad conduces, as a second fish joins Steve in his watery world. (Sex sells!)

If Steve’s amorous encounter got you all worked up, take a deep breath with a plant that sits at the reception desk of an auto care center:

“The reason it’s doing well is that the owner got a new Barclaycard payments card reader that does everything from taking payments to managing stock,” we’re told. “So now, the staff have time to water it.”

Well-served by the soothing strains of actress Julia Davis, the disarming work from Droga5 London and director Jeff Low stands as a counterpoint to so much noise in the financial space. Instead of the hard sell one might expect from a typical bank ad, the work deftly communicates brand benefits in a delightfully indirect way. 

Along with the commercials running on U.K. TV, the initiative includes radio, DOOH, social outreach and digital display.

CREDITS

Client: Barclaycard Business
Agency: Droga5 London
Chief Creative Officer: Shelley Smoler
Group Creative:  Director Raph Basckin
Copywriter:  Cécile Robertshaw
Art Director: Marcos Gemal
Chief Strategy Officer: Damien Le Castrec
Strategy Director: Francesca Zedde
Account Management: Georgie Deering (Group Account Director) Gabi Dwek (Account Director)
Head of Production: Peter Montgomery
Agency Producer: Manon Rees
Director: Jeff Low 
Production Company DOP: Biscuit 
Producer: Matt Emvin Taylor and Kwok Yau
Edit: Shift Post
Editor: Saam Hodivala 
Post Production: ETC
Sound: String & Tins