Ad Nut is old enough to remember the passbook. Not fondly, exactly, but with the particular respect one reserves for objects that were genuinely useful and completely unglamorous. That small book contained the entire record of your financial life, updated by a bank teller with an ink stamp, at a branch, during opening hours, like a civilised human. The tediousness of the ritual was almost charming. No notifications, no two-factor authentication, no app update required before you could check your own balance.
Simpler times. Longer queues.
Saatchi & Saatchi's work for HSBC Hong Kong resurrects the bank's original 1980s passbook commercial with considerable period commitment. Cut to a 4:3 frame, soft-focus lighting, shoulder pads, perms, and four original actors. The iconic glowing passbook returns, then transforms into a smartphone, symbolic of the bank's digital evolution through the years.
Cheuk Shum, head of marketing, Hong Kong at HSBC said: “By recreating this classic, we’re intentionally tapping into that powerful, shared emotional heritage. From the characters’ styling and scene setups to the 80s voice-over, the new advertisement fully immerses audiences in the charm of a bygone era. And just like the characters who turned their passbook into a smartphone, we hope our customers will embrace mobile banking with the same sense of fulfilment they once felt flipping through their passbook.”
Ad Nut feels the fulfilment of flipping through a passbook and the fulfilment of working a banking app are not obviously the same emotion.
The campaign runs to May 31 and is a migration drive. Customers who consolidate their passbook into an Integrated Account via the HSBC HK app can win prizes including a 999.9 pure gold passbook. The first 16,000 to migrate receive a cash reward. Terms and conditions apply, as they always do when a bank is involved.
A physical object commemorating the end of physical objects. Ad Nut did not plan that metaphor but is happy to take credit for noticing it.
Ad Nut is no luddite, digital banking is an upgrade but the relentless drive to move everything online can feel a little excessive. The campaign makes a strong case for the future. It might be stronger still if it left a little more room for those who aren’t quite done with the past.
MSL is the social media agency on this work and Omnicom the media partner.
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