Game Stores is a mass retailer that has been offering South African consumers appliances and consumables for over 53 years. It is known for its extremely low prices and bargains on everything under the sun. South Africa is currently experiencing a heavy economic downturn and Game Stores wanted to remind South Africans that it simply does not make any sense to shop anywhere else. To achieve this objective, the agency was briefed by the client to come up with a radio campaign that would do just that. The reason for going with radio commercials being that radio is still the most widely consumed medium in South Africa, and also one of the cheapest to advertise on.

The casting was inspired by the scripts. We needed a voice that would sound fresh, whilst understanding what we were trying to achieve. We actually tried out a bunch of voices, until we found the right one. We needed someone that would sound exasperated and confused with the situation they found themselves in. To convey that they had so many questions, and they needed them answered.

Having a voice singing 'why?' in the background on the commercials was actually an idea that we had whilst recording in the studio. This singing ended up serving as the base off of which all the other sounds were built and layered over. It becomes an earworm that sticks in your head and has you humming it, long after you’ve listened to the commercials.

Radio is the most widely consumed medium in South Africa. And one of the cheapest to advertise on. It thus served as the perfect platform for Game Stores to remind consumer’s that they are the cheapest retailer around during these tough economic times. A radio campaign used well known phrases, such as ‘Money doesn’t grow on trees’, Running a tight ship’ and ‘My hands are tied’, to demonstrate to consumers that shopping anywhere other than Game simply makes no cents.