ABOUT

Concept: Sanlam turned 100 in 2018. The line was For generations to come, so the film had to talk about the past, present and future all at once. In a fire station outside San Francisco there's a light bulb that has been burning for over a century. A girl called Tanaka rides past the streetlights to visit it and asks the question adults don't: if we can make things that last, why don't we? Luckily, there's a group of people who still think that way. For the past 100 years, they've been building financial futures that last.

Execution: The ending took the longest. We tried dozens of closing lines over three months before it simplified, in post, to the one that ran.

Three facts:
1. This commercial was made for Sanlam's 100th birthday.
2. Livermore, just outside San Francisco, celebrated the light bulb's 125th birthday in 2026. (Seriously.)
3. There is a live webcam monitoring its magnificence 24/7.

Copywriter: Kenneth van Reenen. Art Director: Cameron Watson. Executive Creative Director: Devin Kennedy.