Where it started
Picking up where the first Fairstone commercial left off
Fairstone's first Funny Canadian commercial ran on one idea: Canadians are a quirky bunch, we're proud of it, and we're usually the first to laugh at ourselves. Fairstone gets that. We made that first spot in 2022, starring a proud Canadian in a toque and hockey jersey who stirred his mac and cheese with a mini hockey stick, drowned it in maple syrup and gave directions only a local could follow.
The next spring, Fairstone came back for round two with a more specific job. The sequel had to sell the relief of a debt consolidation loan to Canadians in their 30s and 40s, the ones juggling careers, kids, mortgages and a growing stack of bills. The plan was to test it on Netflix through connected TV, then run it across Fairstone's other awareness channels to send people to their online loan quote landing page.
Debt consolidation doesn't usually get the comedy treatment. The usual ad has a worried couple at a kitchen table, a calculator and one big exhale. Fairstone wanted slapstick that still felt lighthearted, positive and professional, plus a full spot that could break down into short, engaging edits for social.
They also wanted a fresh face on screen. We weren't ready to say goodbye to the first film's star, though. We loved how he played those stereotypes, and his voice carried a lot of that character.
The approach
Every Canadian cliché within walking distance of the cottage
For Funny Canadian 2, we moved the stereotypes out of the dialogue and into the action. Gord never says a word. Every scene takes a well-known Canadian stereotype and pushes it way past reasonable, from writing SORRY on his bills and putting them right back in the mailbox to chopping them with a hockey skate on his hand. It's hyperbole Canadians can laugh along with, and Gord is so easy to root for that nobody feels like the punchline.
That meant every scene needed its own set, and we had one shoot day. So we went looking for the ultimate Canadian property that already had a shed, a fire pit, a woodpile, a cottage living room and room to put up a mailbox by the road, and found it on Sunfish Lake, just outside Waterloo Region. The water gave the backgrounds some depth, and staying close to home meant less driving for the crew and an easy trip for Fairstone's team, who joined us on set.
The narrator does the talking so Gord doesn't have to. We suggested bringing the first film's star back as the voice of the sequel, so Funny Canadian 2 kept his character and that same vibe, even without his face on screen. Fairstone asked to hear him read a few lines, and he got the part. It also gave us a running bit: a play-by-play voice that keeps trying to coach Gord, right down to calling a timeout, whistle and all.
We storyboarded the social edits at the same time as the commercial, so the short versions were planned from the first panel. In the commercial, Gord reacts to the narrator with a look down the lens. The social edits don't have a narrator, so we shot a second take of every setup with Gord minding his own business, and swapped the narrator's lines for on-screen text.
Some of the jokes live in the edit. At the fire pit, the narrator starts praising what he thinks is Gord's plan to lower his heating bill, and we cut, on the exact same framing, to Gord tipping a whole bin of bills into the flames. The jump cut is the punchline, so the camera couldn't move an inch between takes.
The fire pit came with one more twist. The plan was a real fire, but after a stretch of dry weather, a local fire ban came into effect the morning we showed up on set. So we shot the scene with the logs in place and built the fire in post. Every flame you see is VFX.
The scene where Fairstone finally shows up is all practical. A coffee table with a laptop on it slides into frame and stops right in front of Gord, and there's no digital trickery involved: we set the table on a sheet of slippery plexiglass, added a little dish soap for extra glide, and had a crew member pull it in on strings, timed to the voiceover. It took several tries to land it on its mark, and every one was worth it.
What worked on this project
A lead with no lines. Every scene reads with the sound off, so the same footage carried both the commercial and the social edits.
A familiar voice. Bringing back the first film's star linked the two films without asking anyone to rewatch Part 1.
One location, many sets. The shed, mailbox, woodpile, fire pit and living room were a short walk apart, so one day covered every setup.
Two takes of every setup. One reacting to the narrator for the commercial, and one without for the social edits.
Here's everything that one day of filming turned into, from the 1:13 hero film to the vertical social edits.
Behind the work
One shoot day, one compliance puzzle and a kit that kept growing
The shoot itself went smoothly. Most of the interesting problems showed up in post, where the edit went through Fairstone's marketing and compliance review, and the list of deliverables kept getting longer.
Five social edits reviewed in the same rounds as the hero film
We packaged the social edits with the main film, so Fairstone's team reviewed everything in one pass instead of juggling separate rounds. It paid off right away: in the first round, they liked the skate scene from one of the social edits better than the one in the commercial, so we swapped it in.
Rebuilding the loan application scene for compliance
The last act shows Gord applying for his loan on a laptop, which brought Fairstone's compliance team into the review. The screen recordings had to follow the real application in the right order, personal information had to stay off screen, and the laptop's own branding had to go. We'd planned for that from the start: every laptop screen was built in post. On set, we filmed the laptop on a black screen with a few tracking markers, which we painted out later, then built the application in After Effects, reflections and all, so it sat naturally in the shot. Because we controlled every frame of the application, compliance notes meant updating graphics and rearranging a few shots, never a second shoot day. It's the part of financial services video production nobody sees, and it's what gets a spot like this through compliance.
Two 30-second cutdowns added after sign-off
Once the main film was approved, Fairstone asked about a few more assets. We scoped two 30-second cutdowns and a set of stills as an add-on before starting, then built the full kit for every channel on their plan. If you're curious how projects like this get scoped, here's how our projects run from kickoff to launch, and what B2B video production costs at each budget tier. The shoot ended up as 33 video assets:
Films: the 1:13 hero and two 30-second cutdowns, each with and without captions (6)
Formats: square and vertical versions of all three films, with and without captions (12)
Social edits: five short edits, each in wide, square and vertical (15)
Round three
How Gord's bills turned into a whole series
Fairstone ran the Funny Canadian series across their paid channels and kept finding new uses for it. Their team told us the series:
Ran on Facebook, TikTok, Snapchat, YouTube and DV360
Was repurposed into static ads for awareness, consideration and acquisition
Ranked among their top-performing paid social content, with strong engagement and cost-efficient results
It also led to round three. Fairstone came back wanting a campaign about unexpected expenses, so we pitched Murphy's Law: everything that can go wrong does. That became Unexpected Expenses, with the same comedic energy, fewer stereotypes and just as many bills.
As for Gord, we like to think he's finally cleaned out the shed.
Behind the scenes
One cottage, one lake, one very patient lead and more fake bills than any of us want to count again.
