AllLife Advertorial Shoot – Behind the Scenes

Being amongst these individuals taught me that South Africans are a resilient, positive and giving community that wants the best for their fellow citizens.

Every single one of the people participating in the advertorial campaign is genuinely living with the health challenge they speak about. I have noted in the past that people have come up to me and asked if I have had all ‘those’ conditions, so I am confirming, yes, we are all authentic in speaking about our challenges and have positive attitudes to boot!

The fact that AllLife believes that “YOU DESERVE THE RIGHT TO BE INSURED” and seeks out people who are willing to openly talk about their challenges and continue to show their empathy to each one of us goes a long way in my books to prove that they are an organisation that provides, cares, and is sincere in the service products they offer.

This year was the first, as far as I am aware, that there have been so many people participating in the AllLife shoot and hearing the back stories of the health challenges of these people and the fact that they were previously unable to find a company that would provide Chronic Life Cover was quite alarming, as many have dependents.

To give you some insight into the actual shoot days, get ready…

The shoot took place over four days, and we had to be on-site at 06h00. Fortunately, the Estate is beautiful, and an early arrival was worth it. This year the focus was on lifestyle settings, so the home, park, flora and fauna, alongside a more relaxed wardrobe, meant that the shoot was a definite winner. The majority of participants had never been in front of a camera before. Initially, they thought it would be a daunting task, but most sailed through their shoot and came out of their experience smiling broadly.

There was a constant hustle and bustle. Breakfast was an early event as the wardrobe and camera crew set up. The lifestyle locations changed a few times during the day, then a lunch break was squished in, and we shut shop at 16h00 daily. It was an exciting and impressive undertaking. It was, however, faintly ‘embarrassing’ how accommodating they were, be it the guy seeing to the catering, making coffee, fetching water, digging in your bag (on request) while you are sitting in the makeup chair, or him rushing off to the clubhouse to buy chocolate… and believe me, we appreciated the pampering! At times the crew would start in the home setting, pack up and go to the outdoor venue, then back to the home setting as a new contributor to the shoot would be out of wardrobe and makeup to do their take for the advertorial. 

On the final day of the shoot, the 6th of April, I was even surprised with a cake and a sing-a-long for my birthday on the 7th. Now that’s a crew you want to be associated with, be it a shoot, personal connection or as your Chronic Life Cover provider! I rest my case.

Overall, the crew that produced and the AllLife marketing team were organised and hands-on, and, quite frankly, I haven’t seen a setup of this scope run so smoothly.

The producers, camera crew, caterers, wardrobe and makeup people, and accommodation facilities were top-notch. Knowing everyone on set knew their brief was comforting and put us all at ease.

A chronic condition can affect anyone. How you manage it is what makes the difference.

You can get cover of up to 3 million rand for your chronic health condition and up to 10 million if you are living with HIV.

SMS CHRONIC to 33857 to find out more. 

I did!

Disclaimer: The information in this article is intended for educational purposes only. It is not intended to diagnose, treat or cure, and is not a substitute for professional consultation with a health professional.