Defy: The Art of Living Campaign, 2024 Commercial Advertising

We made an exciting, comedic and family-filled TVC campaign for Defy’s new solar off-grid fridge, starring hilarious and iconic father-son duo, Lucas Radebe and Primo. The hero TVC was accompanied by 10 social / Digital assets that highlighted the product’s unique features through improvised dialogue between the family members. The film takes on a retrospective referential lens to the heyday of MTV Cribs, in a contemporary setting where each family member’s device lets them down, only for Primo, who welcomes us in the beginning, to lead us (the viewer) and his whole family to the solution that is Defy’s solar off grid fridge. It was a beautiful collaboration between McCann Joburg and Robot, led by director Ayanda Duma.

This film and product were deliberately aimed at a local market during the peak of load shedding where South Africans were consistently seeking solutions to their lack of electricity. Defy’s groundbreaking new product, and the choice to cast a family that is adored and celebrated largely in South Africa to front the campaign, made this piece a home run in landing the relatability whilst hitting a future-facing tonality with a never-before-seen product.

During this campaign’s conception, Defy was actively pivoting from their previous tagline and market position “Believe in Better’, to an elevated aesthetic that still lands comfortably within the family home audience, while intentionally infusing an aspirational lens with stylised visuals that speak directly to their new brand position and tagline “Art of Living”. This inspired us to create a visually exciting piece that favoured beautiful art direction, technical transitions and even a holographic, animated TV that Lucas is watching his soccer game on.

The campaign was shot in Johannesburg in a beautiful home that landed the new “Art of Living” statement really beautifully. The team were really intentional around the technical crafting of the transitions and even created a transition through the ceiling, revealing the seamlessness of the products use and reliance on solar panels; with such a high tech product launch, it was very exciting to elevate the existing script with high tech cues and treatments to create a stylised, high-paced piece. Another unusual aspect of the campaign was working with soccer legend, Lucas Radebe, who is not a technical actor; however, the refreshing realisation that became apparent very quickly was how well his natural charisma and enthusiasm translated into his performance.