Lucas Radebe and Primo Encourage You to Embrace the “Art of Living” in Defy Campaign

Appliance company Defy has launched an exciting, comedic and family-filled TVC campaign for the brand’s new solar off-grid fridge, starring hilarious and iconic father-son duo, Lucas Radebe and Primo. The campaign is a collaboration between McCann Joburg and Robot, led by director Ayanda Duma.

The hero TVC is accompanied by 10 social / digital assets, highlighting the product’s unique features through improvised dialogue between the family members. The film takes on a retrospective referential lens to the heyday of MTV Cribs, in a contemporary setting where each family member’s device lets them down, only for Primo, who welcomes us in the beginning, to lead us and his whole family to the solution that is Defy’s solar off grid fridge.

This film and product were deliberately aimed at a local market during the peak of load shedding where South Africans were consistently seeking solutions to their lack of electricity. Defy’s groundbreaking new product, and the choice to cast a family that is adored and celebrated largely in South Africa to front the campaign, made this piece a home run in landing the relatability whilst hitting a future-facing tonality with a never-before-seen product.

During the campaign’s conception, Defy was actively pivoting from their previous tagline and market position “Believe in Better’, to an elevated aesthetic that still lands comfortably within the family home audience, while intentionally infusing an aspirational lens with stylised visuals that speak directly to their new brand position and tagline “Art of Living”. This inspired Robot to create a visually exciting piece that favoured beautiful art direction, technical transitions and even a holographic, animated TV that Lucas is watching his soccer game on. 

The campaign was shot in Johannesburg in a home that encapsulated the new “Art of Living” statement. The Robot team was intentional around the technical crafting of the transitions and even created a transition through the ceiling, revealing the seamlessness of the products use and reliance on solar panels; with such a high tech product launch, it was very exciting to elevate the existing script with high tech cues and treatments to create a stylised, high-paced piece. Another unusual aspect of the campaign was working with soccer legend, Lucas Radebe, who is not a technical actor; however, the refreshing realisation that became apparent very quickly was how well his natural charisma and enthusiasm translated into his performance.

Robot’s key creative mood board for this was a contemporary IKEA advert called ‘Show off your Savvy’, combined with the nostalgic reference of MTV’s Cribs. Bringing these two together with the new direction of brand identity that Defy was moving into resulted in a fun, exciting, and punchy campaign that had just the right blend of performances, comedy, technology and homeliness.

Ayanda Tshabalala, executive producer at Robot, commented, “One of my favourite parts of the process is the treatment stage, where the brief and script really come to life! With this particular project, I loved every moment leading up to shoot day. And the cherry on top was getting the chance to shoot with the legendary Lucas Radebe and his son, Primo. It was truly an unforgettable experience!”

The project launched at the beginning of September and will be flighting on TV and social media platforms for a year.