Dear client, thank you for cancelling our work

Thasorn Boonyanate, executive creative director at Wunderman Thompson Thailand, wasn’t too happy at the beginning. TCP, his client, had cancelled his biggest project of the year. It was a bummer.

TCP, Boonyanate explains, is the parent company of several brands, including Krating Daeng (Red Bull). Recalling the company's tagline 'Winner Power Momentum', Boonyanate says, "... makes me feel even more like a 'loser'."

While browsing the web later, Boonyanate stops abruptly when he spots something about TCP. He calls his account executive right away and asks him if he's seen the video of the TCP CEO donating COVID testing equipment. The account director has, indeed, seen it, and tells Boonyanate that it's been blowing up since the announcement.

As the conversation continues, Boonyanate has a bit of an epiphany about the brand spending the campaign money on people who need it more than ever.

The ad then transforms from what seemed like a rant from an adman to everything TCP has done for the community in the wake of the COVID crisis. There's the donation of COVID testing lockers, masks, beverages, milk, and even leasing of trucks to ensure these products reach their destination. And most importantly, it (TCP) hasn't laid off any of its employee.

If TCP was interested in telling people what it did for the community, without annoying them, or coming off as self-centred, it's clearly doing well.