Singtel takes comedic approach for its annual Chinese New Year campaign

The new campaign is called ‘His Grandfather’s Road’, which is a play on a phrase Singaporeans use to describe drivers who behave as if they own the road.

The film showcases a road rage altercation between two families that are in their cars and on their way to visit their relatives and friends on the first day of Chinese New Year but find themselves stuck headlong on a narrow street and refusing to give way to each other.

It attempts to play on local pop culture as both families attempt to wait and wear the other party out by using their respective mobile devices to stream drama shows with Singtel’s mobile data and products.

For example, as the family emerges from their vehicles to confront each other, a nosy passer-by attempts to capture their spat on camera, forcing them to scurry back to their cars, averting a confrontation.

They then order food delivery, but their orders are delayed, as their delivery riders have to find alternative modes of transports, a nod to the new personal mobility devices ban by the Singapore government.

The confrontation then ends on a conciliatory note after both families found they had many things in common.

“Chinese New Year is the perfect occasion to reinforce Singtel’s long-held values of celebrating connections that count. Hence, this simple tale of two feuding families who discover they need to be more expansive and “make the right connections” with each other - the film’s tagline,” said Lian Pek, the vice president for group strategic communications and brand at Singtel.

“Of course, as a company, we’re very much about providing high quality and reliable connectivity services that cater to our customers’ changing lifestyles and expectations. So that gets a playful plug too. You can be stuck anywhere, but thanks to technology, life goes on!”

The campaign was created in-house and the film was produced in collaboration with Akanga Film Asia.

Singtel recently announced it has joined super app brand Grab in a coalition that will see them jointly apply for a digital banking license in Singapore.