#TBT: Is Your Lizard Brain in Charge of Your Wallet?

How many times have you found yourself buying products that you simply don’t need? Buying unnecessary stuff just because it’s on sale, eating at the restaurant almost every day, or surprising you with a fancy gift just because it’s Thursday are just a few examples of destructive financial activities that stop you from saving some money. The culprit for this behavior is the limbic system, a primitive place in our brain that controls emotions, instincts, and other processes. Many refer to it as the “lizard brain,” as the limbic system is all a lizard has for brain function.

This lizard in your brain is the one that “whispers” to your ear that you can buy those shoes now; you will start saving next month. “When it comes to smashing saving goals, your lizard brain can be an absolute demon,” says Yolt, a money-saving app that uses “neuroscience to outsmart your brain biology.”

So, what if you skipped that shopping session you had programmed for this Thursday and read our weekly #ThrowBrandThursday column instead? It focuses on the app’s “Unthink Money” campaign, courtesy of Uncommon Creative Studio, showing you that, with the right tool, the rational part of your brain can overcome the reckless lizard.

The campaign marks the agency’s first work for Yolt since winning the business and shows how the company’s free money app can “help make saving as easy as spending.” Built around this idea, the campaign features neon anatomical imagery to provide a brief, yet eye-catching amusing lesson on what happens with the lizard in our brain when we spend excessively.

To capture the lizard’s destructive, persuasive, and excessive behavior, the agency “dissected” the human brain and published their “findings” in a short video. Directed by Chris Boyle and produced by animation studio Private Island and featuring catchy music composed by Pablo Nouvelle through Theodore, the film captures the crazy reptile’s extravagant and irresponsible way of life. A lifestyle that eventually ends, thanks to Yolt’s smart app.

Lucy Jameson, Co-founder at Uncommon, said: “Yolt is all about giving everyone the power to be smarter with their money. Our strategy explored the ways we can take control of our money, with a playful take on the science behind why we spend the way we do at the moment.”

Rachel Louie Butterworth, Brand & Marketing Director at Yolt, added: “We chose Uncommon as our creative partner to really help drive brand awareness and fame with a distinct creative brand platform for the app. The combination of ‘Unthink Money’ paired with the behavioral science and disruptive nature of the lizard brain does just that. We’re so excited to launch this campaign for Yolt, which will help more people spend smart and save.”

In addition to the video, the campaign also includes a series of illustrations that humorously explain the science behind our spontaneous shopping behavior. By putting science into brightly colored images, the artists managed to explain how the lizard brain works. And after seeing how destructive it can be when it comes to savings, we think it’s time to take control!