California Leaves Everything to Its 39 Million Heirs in New Work from DDB SF

There’s no doubt California has a lot to offer its 39 million residents, both culturally and naturally. And it offers these gifts freely, on one condition: that Californians promise to preserve and protect their state.

To ignite state pride and remind Californians of their connection to the land, DDB San Francisco teamed up with Energy Upgrade California (EUC) to create '39 Million Heirs'. The cinematic spot highlights both epic and intimate parts of the state as well as the Californians who stand to inherit them, while underscoring the responsibility they have to preserving their homeland through responsible energy consumption.

'39 Million Heirs' uniquely Californian tenor exists as much behind the camera as it does on-screen. Many of the key contributors to the spot are native Californians themselves, like DDB San Francisco’s executive creative director Ben Wolan, director Britton Caillouette, and famed native Californian actor Edward James Olmos, who provided the spot’s voiceover. The team was granted access to notoriously restricted filming locations like the Getty Museum and Yosemite National Park because the of the spot’s efforts to spread awareness of California’s preservation through renewable energy.

Having rolled out locally in the San Diego market on October 15th, the anthemic spot will eventually go statewide, leading a series of campaigns designed to help Californians become more energy efficient and utilise the state’s abundant clean energy. The spot will run on social and broadcast, and will live on EUC’S YouTube channel.

This spot is also a glimpse into the level of work that the newly-retooled DDB San Francisco hopes to do more of. Over the last year, the office has hired all new leadership and almost totally overhauled its client roster as they continue to be a part of the overall resurgence of the DDB network.