UNITED CALIFORNIA BANK | NICK | 1971
Can I Just Call You Nick? / UNITED CALIFORNIA BANK "NICK"
It's 1971. Back when banks were still stiff, buttoned-up institutions, this California bank put out a commercial like this one.
The problem
United California Bank was a California bank that later became First Interstate Bank, and eventually merged into Wells Fargo.
The idea
It's a simple scene: an actress sitting at a bank teller's window—Sandy Duncan, unknown at the time—just can't manage to pronounce a customer's name, "Nicholas H. Yanopapalopoulos." After trying again and again, she finally asks, looking apologetic, "Can I just call you Nick?"
What happened
Sandy Duncan, who was cast in the ad, was still an unknown actress in Los Angeles at this point. That same fall of 1971, the CBS sitcom "Funny Face" began airing with her in the starring role, and she quickly became a well-known name.
Afterthought
The video's title is "Do you mind if I just call you 'Nick'?" It's interesting that the idea of giving a bank a friendly nickname already existed back in 1971. I couldn't confirm exactly what DDB intended with this ad or how it was received at the time, but since it won gold, there must have been something to it. If anyone out there knows more, I'd love to hear about it.
Awards
- Cannes Lions Gold 1971
