Ant and Dec launch their own bank in Santander’s ‘mockumentary’ ad campaign

It’s more than a year since Ant McPartlin was fined £86,000 for drink driving and Suzuki pulled its brand partnership with him and his showbiz partner, Dec Donnelly.

But ITV’s favourite duo have been rapidly rehabilitated; they were recently back on prime time presenting Britain’s Got Talent, and Santander bank also seems willing to forgive and forget.

Ant and Dec are the stars of Engine’s new campaign for Santander, in which they launch their own rival bank, Antandec, with a lively film that borrows heavily from BBC’s mockumentary comedy series, W1A.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SfqzDTcHBJY&feature=youtu.be

Billy Faithfull, Engine’s CCO, said: “In the search for a little magic, you have to give every idea a chance to shine. Even the silliest of ideas should be taken seriously. So, when it’s thrown into conversation that Ant and Dec sounds a bit like Santander you can’t ignore that, it’s an absolute gift. It was one of those ideas that you keep parking for good reason, but keeps coming back, more powerful than before. And the more we let it back in the room, the more funny, famous and memorable it became. Nothing else stood a chance.”

Santander is an important client for Engine. They’ve worked together since 2006 on everything from ads to events, brand strategy and transformation, making the Spanish bank an ambassador for the group structure that Engine is now bringing to market in a more focused way.

MAA creative scale: 6.5