"Store"

28 July 2025

2 mins

No quids allowed.

This wonderfully quirky commercial for CashApp sets out the case for the advertised service by comparing it with bartering, rather than with payments by cash or card. Timothée Chalamet wanders around a shop filled with exotic and unusual fruit and vegetables, aware that the proprietor's son is staring at him. Eventually, he wants to know why — and discovers it's not personal. The reason for the interest is anticipation around the moment the shopper finds out that payment is expected in minerals or livestock.

If that sounds weird, it's because it is. Director Aidan Zamiri has created an atmosphere that feels slightly off — and the outcome is extraordinarily compelling. It holds your attention as you wait to see where it’s going and how it will get there.

The modernity of CashApp is beautifully emphasised by a comparison with pre-capitalist methods of payment, giving an “okay, boomer” vibe to any other way of paying, and ensuring the audience recognises that only the advertised service truly suits Gen Z.

USA

Financial Services