Ayoade asks 'Where are you from?' for HSBC

Building on its award-winning We Are Not An Island campaign, this spot, created by Wunderman Thompson and directed by Outsider's James Rouse, puts the focus on home and belonging, and champions the idea that everyone, no matter their background, has the right to feel at home in Britain.

Ayoade, the face of a previous Global Citizen campaign, returns to front the 60 second TV ad and ponders the question, “Where are you from?” as we see him observing grainy 1970s footage of a new born baby and family in an English hospital setting. We then see a very different birth scene captured in black and white in 1950s India. Richard answers his original question with another set of questions: “Is it where you were born?” or “Or where your parents were born?”. 

“Our new campaign for HSBC explores the concept of belonging at a time when many people and communities are questioning their place in society," says Steve Aldridge, chief creative officer at Wunderman Thompson London. "The response we deliver is one that is indomitably optimistic and outward looking. People of all backgrounds have a place in Britain and the message we communicate for HSBC is that we all thrive more when we are connected to something bigger than ourselves."