Recently-retired soccer star Landon Donovan stars in BBDO San Francisco’s newest work for Wells Fargo, who awarded the agency lead creative duties last March after spending more than 18 years with DDB.
This is not the agency’s first work for the new client, but neither is it a major departure from earlier campaigns; it retains the “Done” tagline and an emphasis on the convenience of the bank’s SurePay app.
Donovan brings star power to the ad while mocking his own recently-retired status (as he did in a recent Foot Locker campaign). In the 30-second spot, he joins a local recreational team and nobody knows who he is. When he’s required to pony up for his uniform (which reads “Don Ovan”), he uses SurePay to send the money instantly.
It will be interesting to see where BBDO San Francisco goes from here and whether Donovan’s celebrity presence marks the beginning of a trend or remains an anomaly.
Here’s “Job Interview,” which debuted last May before BBDO took over, for comparison.