A surreal sales pitch for a credit card

How do you try to convince digital natives to sign up for a physical credit card? First Choice and Leo Burnett Thailand have opted to take the futuristic route with its 'Mafia of Digital World' campaign to sell its XU by First Choice card to this demographic. 

This spot stars Ink Warunthon, one of Thailand’s most popular female artists, as a futuristic, surreal and demanding mafia boss who loves collabs and unboxing. However, she takes her fetish too far and ends up facing an army of budget cutters, upending her life. 

While one might expect her next move might be to recognise and address her shopaholic behaviour by cutting back, the ad instead not only condones the spending spree, but introduces a means of prolonging it.

In this case, XU by First Choice, is offered as a solution to the don's credit mess, with the campaign extolling its benefits including 0% interest for online purchases for up to six months to monthly e-coupons that can be redeemed online, cash back of up to 18% for online shopping, plus online purchase protection and spending alerts.

“Many of their (Gen Zs) demands or desires occur totally on digital platforms ... which is why we launched XU by First Choice, a credit card that makes it easy for younger generations to connect with new lifestyles online,” explained Athip Sinpagekan, EVP head of marketing at First Choice.

Sarut Yungcharoen, group creative director at Leo Burnett Thailand, contended: “It’s an unconventional approach from a brand that is passionate about tailoring its products to the needs of a younger audience, and isn’t afraid to break category norms to get their attention.”

This campaign follows up on the launch of ‘Metaverrrrrr’ – a parody of making the world’s first metaverse commercial to promote First Choice credit cards. Starring Mario and Pattie – who are performed by two popular Thai presenters, Metaverrrrrr has clocked up over 15.3 million views on YouTube and Facebook in Thailand alone since launching in February 2022.