As the world becomes more and more automated and with banks being seen traditionally as the bastion of impersonality, financial intsitutions such as credit unions are bringing their humanity to the fore as a point of difference.

Canadian credit union, Meridian, has done so in a way that is wild – impossible to ignore and unlikely not to elicit emotion. It’s a ghastly dystopian view of a world in which everyone is reduced to a number. To create the two campaign films, one for retail and the other for business, Meridian teamed up with Dan French and Impossible Studios.

The work is brilliantly unsettling with its quirky camera angles, eerie soundtrack and, while exaggerated, uncomfortable closeness to real life right now.

The campaign, World of Numbers, is built on the brand’s core belief that Around Here, Banking is Different, and fits into a broader Meridian for Good strategy, that aligns business success with a deep commitment to social responsibility and community engagement – the people before profit promise of credit unions.

The full campaign will cover digital, TV, out of home advertising, member stories, and a comprehensive internal and external communications campaign. It also includes Meridian’s first-ever More Than a Number survey. The campaign was built with Elemental Inc., Cult, Impossible Studios, AndHumanity, and SPPR.