While cleaning out the attic of his house, a dust-covered copy of “The Arabian Nights” is found by a young man, reminding him of his habit of borrowing books from the library back when he was just a kid passionate about reading. The beginning of this story is part of the “Majd and the Librarian” campaign by Serviceplan Middle East for Al Etihad Credit Bureau (AECB), throughout which the audience discovers a valuable lesson: The promise of giving “the book” back.

Directed by Esfandiar Haji and Shahriar Ghatre at Production Company Hanzo Films with animation by Vulturehead studio, the animated spot cleverly uses the usual practice of borrowing books from a library as a metaphor to explain the responsibility of applying for a loan to a bank. The spot marks the agency’s first brand film for AECB and was developed for the web as a content piece to spread the word about AECB using a subtly communicated narrative to speak about the responsibility of borrowing.

The three-minute-long video narrates the story of a kid who keeps borrowing books from a local library. But as a grown man, he discovers that he forgot to return one of them. Holding the book in his hands, the memory of the librarian who inspired him to take an interest in reading flooded his mind.

He decides to go back to the library of his childhood, where he finds out that the librarian has been replaced by a young lady. She opens a locker that the old man prepared for the boy: Inside, a pile of books is revealed alongside a note that reads: “Every word kept, counts.” Although there is no dialogue featured in the video, the story still conveys the message of keeping your word to return something that you have borrowed.

Serviceplan Middle East Executive Creative Director, Akhilesh Bagri, commented: “In trying to get across a very tough message, we decided to go with the allegory of a child borrowing a book that he is unable to return, which gradually eats away at him. When he does return the book in later life, he learns that nothing is lost. This particular example could resonate with a lot of us, since borrowing a book from a library is probably the first time we as humans take the responsibility of taking something on credit, with a promise of giving it back.”

Check out AECB’s story of promises made and kept in the video below.

Credits:

Agency: Serviceplan Middle East

Client: Al Etihad Credit Bureau

Serviceplan Middle East:

Managing Director: Natalie Shardan

Head of Strategy: Frances Valerie Bonifacio

Executive Creative Director: Akhilesh Bagri

Writers: Akhilesh Bagri & Georgia Fattoracci

Creative Directors: André Couto, Saleh Elghatit

Art Directors: Kenneth Barnes, Kunal Gagwani

Serviceplan Group:

Worldwide Executive Creative Director: Jason Romeyko

International Communications Officer: Lee Sharrock

Production company: Hanzo Films

Executive Producer:  Hijaz Moosa

Animation: Vulturehead studio

Directors: Esfandiar Haji, Shahriar Ghatre

Production Manager: Elahe Khalili

Communications Manager: Yasaman Hossein

Music Composer: Saman Aboutaleb

Character Animators: Reyhane Mirhashemi, Hadi Tabas, Babak Arjmand, Niloofar Behbud, Ali Honarpour, Esfandiar Haji, Yasaman Hossein

Shadow and Lighting Animators: Naim Vahidian, Esfandiar Haji

Client: Al Etihad Credit Bureau

Head-Business Development: Daniele Lavalle

Senior Manager – Marketing: Khalid Mohammad

Senior Marketing Officer: Maitha Ahmed

Marketing Officer: Khulood Hamad