The Brief

South Africans are drowning in debt, and it’s largely fueled by the easy access to credit and an addiction to conspicuous spending. The reality is that few can afford the glamorous celebrity lifestyles full of stylish swag that every newspaper, magazine and social feed throws in their faces every day. So they get into a personal debt spiral that is so serious that it threatens to derail our faltering economy.

The Idea

What if we saved as conspicuously as we spent?

As part of National Savings Month, we recruited two of South Africa’s biggest and blingest celebrities, whose social media presence is the very epitome of conspicuous spending. We asked multi-platinum rapper Cassper Nyovest and actress and presenter Pearl Thusi to twist their VIP lifestyles from conspicuous spending to conspicuous saving.

Cassper wrote a hit track, “Mr Madumane (Big $pendah)”, whose message was all about the pitfalls of living beyond your means. A “big-budget” music video was produced, but instead of all the usual pimping bling everything was either recycled or re-purposed from cheap or second-hand stuff. The music video launched on Youtube, facebook and drove users to the Sanlam Conspicuous Savers webpage.

A documentary was released.

A documentary was made, chronicling their journey, which was launched at a high-profile music video media launch of “Mr Madumane”. This was launched on Youtube, facebook and drove users to the Sanlam Conspicuous Savers webpage.