A woman breaks free from her bank in Starling's fantastical spot

A woman breaks free from her old bank by bursting through a glass dome in a fantastical new commercial from U.K. challenger bank brand Starling. In the spot by Wonderhood Studios, the protagonist is standing in line at a dull-looking corporate bank when she sees some birds flying above its glass dome. She starts to levitate and then whirls through the air to the amazement of the other customers and fury of the bankers, before punching through the glass and soaring above the rooftops to the soundtrack of Cream's "I feel free." The tagline is "set yourself free from your old bank." The commercial, part of a wider platform titled "Here to change,." follows an earlier campaign by Wonderhood for Starling, which focused on small business owners and, like this spot, featured some eye-catching craft with a business owner working in a shed taking flight. This time, the bank is targeting mainstream consumers, by tackling a common preconception that changing banks is difficult. “When people see the campaign, we want them to feel inspired to make the change to a fairer and smarter alternative to traditional banks," said Anne Boden, CEO at Starling Bank, in a statement. The spot was filmed on lcation in Kiev, Ukraine by Sam Pilling of Pulse, and although some CGI was involved, the lead actor was actually filmed punching through a (sugar glass) dome and flying through the air on a zip wire. “When I first read the idea I absolutely loved the playful, surreal tone and knew I could have a lot of fun coming up with moments of Peter-Pan magic and mischief for our character," said Pilling in a statement. "It was integral that we filmed our actor in camera, to ensure the effect felt believable. Anna Sari (our hero) was an absolute trooper - enduring several days on wires - swooping down through the space at speed, bouncing around high in the sky on a zip line, and generally spinning every which way." The campaign is breaking on U.K. TV tonight (Oct. 1), as well as in cinemas and digital media.

A woman breaks free from her bank in Starling's fantastical spot

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