Steadfast turns dirty cash counting into dark comedy — ADFEST Film Craft Gold Lotus

Indian stationery maker Steadfast sells cash-handling machines — note counters and currency detectors — to businesses that still process notes by hand. Advertising a machine is inherently dull, so TBWA\Lintas Mumbai and production company Ducktape Studios answered the brief with entertainment: films where manual cash handling escalates into dark comedy and the product arrives as the relief.

'Dirty Money' opens in a loud betting parlour where money is flying and the bookie is running the show. Struck by a sudden stomach emergency, he rushes to the only bathroom, drags the occupant out and locks himself in; a bundle of cash falls into the mess. The film cuts to an accountant calmly counting the same notes by licking his fingers, and the reveal lands: the Steadfast Note Counting Machine — 'Fast. Hygienic. Trustworthy.' A companion film, 'Don't Look Up' turns holding a banknote to the light into absurd consequences before presenting the fake-money detector as the smarter answer.

The craft-first approach travelled. At ADFEST 2026, 'Dirty Money' won a Film Craft Gold Lotus plus a Silver, and the 'Don't Look Up' script took a Bronze Lion in Film Script at Cannes Lions 2026 — at that moment India's only Lion of the day. The agency's argument was that a B2B machine placed at the centre of a great story, rather than in every frame, is what lets the work travel.