Fifth Third Bank, "Pay to the Order of"

What if a checking account could help fight cancer? That was the premise of this campaign where Fifth Third Bank (branded as “The Curious Bank” at the time) would donate $150 to Stand Up 2 Cancer and give the customer $150.

Given the subject matter was very delicate, authenticity was paramount. Every story, voice, and image you see and hear was from someone who survived cancer—with two exceptions: in two radios spots and the guy who did all the brand VO for all Fifth Third Bank work.

Originally, Fifth Third Bank only planned to run the campaign once. But it was so successful, they ran it during the fall of the same year. When all was said and done, we helped them raise over $3 million for cancer research and Fifth Third Bank had thousands of new checking account customers. 

Radio

Only two of the voices used in the first to spots were from cancer survivors to represent the people that weren’t diagnosed with cancer.

These are the spots we ran during the campaign’s second media buy.

Print

Pay to the Order of: Jill my sister and my hero.

Pay to the Order of: Skyler, the man I plan to grow old with.

Pay to the Order of: My son, Isaac, who teaches me more than I teach him.

We were curious, could a checking account help fight cancer?
We'll give $150 to Stand Up To Cancer and $150 to you when you open a new Fifth Third Bank checking account. The money we donate helps fund cutting-edge research to help save lives. Learn more at 53.com/su2c

Print & Social

In addition to the checking account promotion, Fifth Third Bank donated $1 each time someone used #PayToTheOrderOf on social. These were a few print ads we ran, where the hashtags told each patient’s story.

The response on social was overwhelming. And once upon a time, I had the receipts to back that up. However, those files were lost in the Great Data Incident of 2025 at the Williams household.

#OUCH #leginjury #xray #MRI #somanytests #ihavecancer #surgery #donewithtreatments #cancerfree #I #AM #A #SURVIVOR

#lumpinshoulder #biopsy #itscancer #scared #chemo #goodbyehair #lastdayofchemo #so #happy #cancerisgone #I #BEAT #CANCER

A hashtag can mean more than you think.
Use #PayToTheOrderOf to tell us who you're fighting for. Each time you do, we'll donate $1 to Stand Up To Cancer. Join the fight at 53.com/su2c