Product: Visa.
Title: All It Takes.
Ad Agency: BBDO.
First Impression: easily the funniest
and cutest ad currently on air. A big production directed by Matt Murphy (previous credits include Visa International with Pierce Brosnan) and starring Catherine Zeta Jones.
Idea/storyline: the ad opens with Zeta Jones and her Asian guide driving a jeep through a tropical jungle (shot in the forest reserve of Shah Alam in Malaysia). The actress spots an injured orang-utan on the ground, but as soon as she alights from the jeep, other orang-utans swing into action and snatch pieces of her luggage from the vehicle. The 'injured' animal Zeta Jones is examining suddenly flashes her a cheeky grin and she realises she is being conned. Luckily, there is a banana in the glove compartment and the guide throws it to Zeta Jones, who trades it for her handbag, which contains her all-important Visa card. 'Need supplies?' flashes across the screen before a truckload of bananas arrives, which the actress pays for using her credit card. Slowly, the orang-utans return her bags in exchange for bananas. But wait. The head of the orang-utan gang gestures it also wants her credit card. Zeta Jones, who is back in the jeep, refuses. The ad closes with the orang-utan holding the car keys.