Saatchi & Saatchi UK are launching the second stage of their highly successful "Life flows better with Visa" campaign, following last year's Visa Europe "Running Man" TVC with a new spot called "Bill".
The TVC airs across more than 200 channels between 20.05 and 20.15 on 1 March 2009 and captures an average day in the life of a unique man as he flows through his shopping trip using his Visa card for all kinds of purchases.
The ad features Bill Shannon, a dance and media artist who was born with a degenerative hip condition and has developed a unique technique for dancing on crutches called the Shannon Technique.
Saatchi & Saatchi discovered Bill a year ago through Joey Garfield's "Work it Out" music video for RJD2, which featured on the 2008 Saatchi & Saatchi New Directors Showcase. Immediately impressed, inspired and mesmerized by Shannon's elegance in overcoming difficulty and the fluidity of his movement, the Visa team chose him to star in the ad, as the perfect representation of flow.
For the TVC, Shannon was once again directed by Joey Garfield. Music is Don Thomas's "Come on Train" - remixed by Ian Parton.
The Saatchi & Saatchi New Directors Showcase, a highlight of the Cannes Lions festival, was started in 1991 by the legendary Saatchi Creative Director, the late Paul Arden. Paul died last year but his spirit and mind-blowing creativity was alive and kicking hard in last year's showcase and will continue to do so.
"This campaign is further evidence - if any was needed - of Paul Arden's creative legacy," said Robert Senior, CEO SSF Group. "Both the format and choice of director were inspired by the 2008 New Directors Showcase."
The campaign, which will be supported by radio, in-store and outdoor media will also run across Finland, Germany, Greece, Poland and Turkey. The 60 and 30 second TV ad will run for eight weeks.
The new Visa TV spot is the third of three defining acts from Saatchi & Saatchi so far this year, the previous two being T-Mobile "Dance" and Cadbury "Release the goo".