Sanlam's F-Show hides a money course inside a sold-out comedy gig

Money is one of the most avoided subjects in South Africa, and financial services advertising tends to match that mood with serious, abstract messages. Sanlam's chief marketing officer Mariska Oosthuizen wanted to flip that: the insight was that South Africans are brilliant at laughing at themselves, so the brand would make money something people laugh at instead of flinch from.

With Accenture Song, Sanlam built The F-Show — a stand-up comedy gig written from a six-lesson 'fin lit' course developed with personal-finance author Sam Beckbessinger. Comedian of the year Mpho 'Popps' Modikoane, Vafa Naraghi and Khanyisa Bunu turned the lessons into jokes. Over three sold-out nights at the Theatre on the Square in Johannesburg, the venue had no Sanlam logo and patrons paid for their own tickets; reviews of the night noted that the audience left having absorbed hard money lessons without consciously being taught.

Clips posted to social media took the show beyond the room, generating over two million views, 14,000 shares and 138,000 engagements. The campaign sat inside Sanlam's 'Dirtiest Word' platform — 'Money talk matters' — with the brand positioning the show as a creative catalyst to normalise money conversations.

The work then moved through the awards circuit: Gold in the Finance category at the ACA Effie Awards 2025, a Loeries 2025 Silver for Audience Insights Innovation, and Loeries Bronzes for comedic impact and for branded content film, plus a craft certificate for writing. A full-length version was planned as a streaming special, taking the show from three nights in Sandton into homes.