"Letting go of your number is heart wrenching and it's this truth we explored when creating the campaign," says Watt. "Cell C has always found a meaningful way to connect with people. Depicting a cold and sterile 10-digit cell number as an unlikely cast of quirky and pint sized people allowed us to reach the level of emotion we were after."
In the ad, the 10 digits are shown as 10 'little people' who, at first, are dressed in either yellow or blue with a correlating 083 or 082 cell number on their backs.
Before departing through security checks, the cellphone owner explains to his cell phone number that he can't take them with him as he needs to change and needs to be free. Forlornly, the numbers look on as their owner disappears into departures.
Then the well-known silky Cell C voice makes an airport announcement: "All members coming on board our network bring your number with you." A happy reunion between owner and cell number ensues (little people now dressed in red). Again, the silky voice: "Change your network - not your number."
The techniques used to shrink the hobbits in Lord of the Rings were a great precedent for film director Jonathan Parkinson while shooting the commercial. He said achieving complex special effects and mastering a believable and emotional performance from the actors was a precision-balancing act. "It was probably the most challenging shoot in my 16-year career."
Parkinson says they went to the UK to cast for the cellphone owner who needed to be a professional actor, attractive in appearance and, more importantly, not shorter than 6'3".
"Even though it was quite a 'tall' order (if you will excuse the pun) we were fortunately spoilt for choice. Even the extras had to be giant size in stature to get the perspective right in relation to the 'little people' who could not be taller than 1.5 meters. Even then we shrunk them down to one meter with camera tricks."
Luggage trolleys, security x-ray machine, suitcases seen in the ad were all made from scratch in giant size proportions. "In fact, we completely changed Lanseria airport to make it look like a big international airport."
