Why Thinkerbell Aotearoa and SquareOne Used “Humour and Existential Dread” to Tackle Financial Literacy

Regan> I think every parent quietly fears that their child won’t leave home and make something of themselves. You’re constantly trying to strike the right balance, caring for them enough to feel supported but not so much that they miss out on developing essential life skills. That tension felt like fertile ground for a campaign. By surfacing those inner parental fears, we knew we could tap into a powerful motivator. Teaching kids money skills before it’s too late.

From a behavioural science perspective, we know that early habits are sticky, there’s plenty of research showing that the sooner you start forming good money behaviours, the more likely they are to stick for life. Personally, I’d always felt that schools didn’t focus enough on practical financial literacy, things like saving, investing, and understanding money beyond basic maths. That gap was what drew me to the SquareOne app even before they became a client.

Jody> Every parent has had that ‘oh no’ moment – when you realise your kid has no idea how money works and might still be relying on you at 30. It’s that mix of love and mild panic that makes financial literacy such a fascinating topic. The real insight for us was that teaching kids about money isn’t just about their future – it’s about making sure parents don’t end up financially supporting an adult who still thinks rent is something you only pay in Monopoly. The moment we tapped into that fear, we knew we had something powerful (and, let’s be honest, pretty funny) to work with.

Regan> There were a couple of reasons. Firstly, we were using a negative (the fear of financial dependence) to sell a positive (teaching kids good money habits), and humour is the best way to disarm that tension. If you’re going to hold up an uncomfortable truth, you need to make people laugh while you’re doing it.

Secondly, the data backs it up: humour significantly increases ad effectiveness. Studies show that humorous ads score higher on both likability and memorability, which are strong predictors of long-term brand recall. In a category like financial literacy, where messages often lean dry or preachy, humour cuts through the clutter. It gets people to engage with the message, not just passively absorb it.

Jody>  Because if we didn’t, no one would watch it! Financial education can so easily turn into a lecture, and people don’t engage with lectures – they engage with stories, jokes, and things that make them feel something. We wanted parents to laugh, relate, and then have that ‘oh crap’ moment of self-reflection.

That’s what makes humour so powerful in advertising – it doesn’t just grab attention, it makes messages stick. And let’s be real, if we made a serious, facts-based campaign, it wouldn’t have the same impact (or get shared in group chats nearly as much).

Regan> Like all great storytelling, it’s about anchoring the idea in truth while giving yourself room to play. To dramatise the problem, we exaggerated it to an extreme, but we kept it grounded in real, relatable insights. That’s what makes it funny and effective.

We wanted parents to see a slightly ridiculous version of their potential future, not so far-fetched that it felt like pure comedy, but exaggerated just enough to spark a laugh and a little self-reflection. We tapped into universal parenting frustrations, the kind of stuff you joke about with friends, but deep down, there’s a kernel of ‘what if?’ That tension between possibility and absurdity is where the magic happens.

Jody> It was all about making sure parents could see themselves in it – just turned up to 11. The best comedy is always rooted in truth, so while we had fun with the exaggeration, the core of it had to feel real. The best part is the reaction we keep seeing is parents laughing and then immediately going, ‘Wait, should I be worried?’ That’s exactly what we wanted – a campaign that entertains while also delivering a reality check.

Regan> Honestly, it’s been universally loved. The reaction has been consistent – bursts of laughter followed by that little nod of recognition, ‘Yep, that’s a fear I’ve had.’ What’s been interesting is hearing from some parents who’ve had the realisation that, for their kids, it might already be too late. That mix of humour and existential dread? Surprisingly effective.

Jody> Honestly? How many people have sent it to their partners or friends with the caption ‘This is us.’ We knew it would resonate, but the sheer number of parents immediately recognising themselves in it has been amazing. I’ve also had a few people half-jokingly ask if we’ve been spying on their family dynamics – so I guess we really nailed the relatability factor!

Regan> To be honest, this was one of those rare campaigns where everything just clicked. Everyone was aligned, from client, strategy, creative to execution. There was a real sense that the idea had momentum, and every part of the process – writing the scripts, casting the talent, choosing locations – just felt right.

The beauty was in the collaboration. Instead of the usual tug-of-war that can happen in production, every suggestion made along the way genuinely improved the work. It was one of those projects where you feel like the campaign is making itself, and your job is just to not get in the way.

Jody> Campaigns like this don’t come around often, where everyone just clicks and the idea carries its own momentum. The challenge wasn’t in the execution, but in making sure we didn’t overthink it. The temptation in marketing is always to tweak and refine until you’ve lost the original spark, but this one felt so right from the start that our job was really to protect it. It was one of those rare times where everything lined up, and we just had to trust the process.