BSN Malaysia causes a stir this Chinese New Year

See more Lunar/Chinese new year ads and promos

Client: BSN Malaysia

Agency: Fishermen Integrated

Campaign title: “Pengacau Raya Cina” (An outsider who causes a stir at Chinese New Year)

Market: Malaysia

Scope: Online

Details: A sequel to last year’s Raya hit “Pengacau Raya Cina”, the new campaign tells the story of young couple Aloysius and Zaitun, as well as their parents, experiencing their first Chinese New Year together as a multicultural family.

The festive ad has more than 2 million views, 147,419 likes and comments with more than 40,000 shares in less than a week. 

Quotes:

Puspa Marina Dato’ Haji Omar, senior vice-president / head, strategic communications, Bank Simpanan Nasional:

Last year’s Pengacau Raya campaign was a huge success - and one of the most viewed Raya ads of the year. We wanted to continue that heartwarming story, while celebrating the beauty of multiculturalism here in Malaysia, reflecting BSN’s own respect for diversity. Building upon our recent rebranding, we wanted to reconnect with our audience on a social platform. The success of these social media campaigns has shown that our message has indeed resonated with the people of Malaysia.

Mark Darren Lee, co-founder and head of digital, Fishermen Integrated:

In line with BSN’s new brand direction and positioning, we created this video to reach out and touch the hearts of Malaysians across the nation, and we’re extremely happy that the video has had such a huge impact in just a few days. We’re very moved by the real conversations and stories we’ve been receiving online, from real Malaysians—each sharing their own inspiring stories of festive harmony.

Our view: When the writer of this article also happens to be Malaysian, there’s a lot to say. The “promoting racial harmony during festive seasons” video has long been the mainstay of Malaysian advertising, cemented into the psyche and the calendar year by the work Yasmin Ahmad (a member of Campaign Asia-Pacific's Hall of Fame) did for Petronas.

All creatives and agencies aspire to hit all the right notes in their own festive campaigns, supported by local brands eager to snatch bragging rights away from Petronas as the definitive representative of articulating what it means to be Malaysian.

Most efforts never really strike the same chords as those Petronas ads of old, which most Malaysians of my generation remember vividly. Some efforts have been horribly crass blunders, but we shall not speak of them here.

Some have pointed out that such feel-good messages probably ring hollow in a nation increasingly divided, with disparate communities more willing to bond over differences than similarities. 

Then comes this year’s effort by Fishermen Integrated, which is the best attempt I’ve seen at revitalising that emotional mix and vision to date. That it was for a traditional and conservative banking brand like BSN Malaysia makes it even more surprising.

The “bersama-sama untuk selama lama-nya" (together forever) line might be a tad bit too cheesy for this jaded cynic, but that doesn’t take away from the smile I had on my face throughout the video.

Netizens have already drawn favourable comparisons to Kak Yasmin's work, and in response Fishermen's Lee said: "For our work to be compared to the great stories of Yasmin Ahmad is too much of an honour. We grew up in advertising inspired by her and we are who we are because of her. Yasmin has set the standard and we know our work has a long, long way to go to be compared that way." 

Overall, this bodes well for the future of the country’s creative scene. Well executed, and well done.

 

CREDITS

Agency: Fishermen Integrated
Founders: Mark Darren Lee / Adam Miranda / Joyce Gan / Andrew Tan
Executive creative director: Adam Miranda
Creative director: Andrew Tan
Copywriter: Mo Nazmi Ahmad / Chak Mohamed
Art director: Chak Mohamed / Baharin Jeffri
Digital head: Mark Darren Lee
Digital manager: Joshua Desmond
Social media executive: Nicholas Francis
Production: Reservoir Production
Director: Adam Sinclair
Executive producer: Ryan Khoo
Producer: Nigel Pinto
DOP: Fendi Shareef Ang
Post production: Outpost
Executive producer: Randy Jay Pavanaris
Sound: Grand Theft Records
Chief engineer: Ram Nabil Shawn Chia
Sound engineer: Christopher Grzybowski
Producer: Alicia Xiao Mei