Affinity Plus - Cannonball & Surrogate Mother Spots

Ad agency Risdall in Minneapolis called on the comedic and casting talents of LIMEY Director Nick Jones for its hilarious, new commercial campaign for Affinity Plus. In “laugh-out-loud” terms, the two-spot campaign outlines just how far Affinity Plus will go for clients. The 30-second spots, entitled “Surrogate Mother” and “Human Cannonball,” are currently airing regionally.

With its new commercials, Affinity Plus unabashedly takes a shot at its larger banking competitors via parody. The first spot, “Surrogate Mother,” parodies the traditional testimonial spot, opening with a “real” couple at home explaining how “their” bank goes the extra mile for them. The story takes an unexpected turn as they explain that at Affinity Plus, their banking agent goes so far to help her clients that she happily carries their baby. In “Human Cannonball,” when an Affinity Plus Account Manager asks what else he can do for his client, he finds himself stuffed into a cannon and takes flight.

Brave comedic parody from a credit union makes for great fodder for a comedy Director like LIMEY’s Nick Jones. Well-known for his stellar casting eye, Jones was able to work with JR Casting in Minneapolis to find just the right actors for this campaign, and their performances truly bring the spots to life. It was of particular concern for Director and creative team alike that the viewer got the parody. Affinity Plus as a credit union were very comfortable taking pot shots at the “big banks,” but it had to be handled just right.

“We all --agency and Production Company alike -- had a great deal of fun shooting these spots together,” says Andrew Denyer, Executive Producer/Owner of LIMEY. “The scripts were particularly well crafted when we received them and Nick certainly managed to take them to the next level.”

“It was a blast!” comments LIMEY Director Nick Jones. “The scripts were a dream to receive, and even more so to get the green light to shoot them. The ideas were so strong from the outset, that it was just a real pleasure discussing how to make the films unique, original, funny and totally surprising. What could be better than discussing how to top a surrogate mother gag with a ‘pregnant man’ gag.”

According to Jones, the ‘Human Cannonball’ spot was the more intense of the two. Visual effects, stunt work, audience, dialogue, lighting changes, etc, were all incorporated into the spot, and shot in just one day. “All in all, a great agency, great fun, and we ended up with some really great commercials. I’m chuffed!” concludes the Director.




Credits:
Client: Affinity Plus
Spot Titles: “Surrogate Mother” :30; “Human Cannonball” :30

Ad Agency: Risdall/Minneapolis
Creative Director/Art Director: Matt Bergen
Copywriter: John Neumann -
Producer: Tammy Auel
Production Company: LIMEY
Director: Nick Jones
Executive Producer/Producer: Andrew Denyer
Director of Photography: David Schnack
Editorial Company: Schnitt, Inc
Editor: Charley Schwartz
Producer: Jill Asp Dotseth
Post Production Companies
Ring of Fire
Drive Thru