The Bank of Antandec Closes with Showstopping ‘Grand Finale’

Ant and Dec are taking their final bow as CEOs of The Bank of Antanddec after years of attempting to better Santander at its own game. In a new TV campaign, launching today, the two resign from the pursuit in showstopping fashion: with a theatrical musical number channelling ‘New York, New York’ to mark the end of their time in the competitive banking sector.

The campaign, created by House 337, with Merman Branded, in partnership with Mitre Studios, Carat, and IPG, for Santander's Edge credit card, is the grand finale of The Bank of Antandec series, which has entertained audiences since 2019 across 15 campaigns that gained recognition from the Effies and DMA awards, among others. The spot was directed by Guy Manwaring, whose keen eye for performance and comedy made him the perfect choice for this dazzling finale.

When asked whether the agency felt pressure to end on a real high after such a successful six-year run (and a 20-year partnership), House 337’s CCO Josh Green says, “It never felt like pressure, more like planning the last night of a Saturday night series. From the beginning, we treated The Bank of Antanddec like a proper show – characters, running gags, story arcs. And like all good shows, you need to know when to roll the credits. So the finale wasn’t pressure, it was a chance to give the send-off it deserved.”

The brief for the last hurrah was simple, says Josh: finish big. “Not a polite wave. We wanted something that tied a bow on the whole saga, with all the usual daftness and mishaps, but also something with a sense of occasion. If you’ve built six years of laughs, you’ve earned the right to go out swinging.”

A musical number felt like a natural way to end this chapter, plus it leans directly into Ant and Dec’s talents with Josh noting it's in their DNA, “so a musical felt like the right wink to the audience. ‘New York, New York’ gave us exactly what we wanted: big, brassy, over the top. It let us parody the world of high finance while keeping it tongue-in-cheek.”

In Josh’s view, Ant and Dec have been great ambassadors for Santander because “they’re brilliant at making serious things feel fun. Banking isn’t usually a laugh (and for good reason), but their chemistry, knack for messing things up in just the right way, and their warmth made Santander stand out. They brought joy and humanity to a sector that often feels anything but.”

In a category like banking, where the subject matter is serious and the jargon heavy, leaning on entertainment can seem counterintuitive. Josh is clear that “no one queues up to hear about APRs,” adding “but [people] do remember a joke, a tune, and certainly a storyline. The truth is, brands aren’t just competing with each other; they’re competing with everything else in people’s lives. If you want people’s attention, you’ve got to put on a show.”

The ‘Grand Finale’ is the last campaign in the 20-year partnership between House 337 and Santander – “A rare thing in this business,” Josh notes. During the partnership, Santander and House 337 “launched products, helped people understand their money better, kept going through recessions and, along the way, created one of the most distinctive voices in banking.” What’s been the biggest lesson in that time? “If I had to boil it down to one thing, it’s showing that entertainment works, even in a serious category,” states Josh.

Josh credits “all the creatives who’ve worked on this over the years. One of the things I’m most proud of is how many brilliant people lent their funny bones to the work. It was always single-minded, never about ego or stamping a name on it, just serving the idea. That’s rare in any industry, and it’s one of the big reasons the campaign has stood up so long and so well.”

While this spot is the end of The Bank of Antandec marketing campaign, it is not the end of Santander’s relationship with Ant and Dec, who will continue their partnership with the bank.