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Disclaimer: I do not work for, represent, associate with, or even like, HSBC.

I ask about this commercial, which reveals the actress playing young lady's real identity (Andrea So or 蘇韻姿 in Chinese, who is from Toronto) and I can hear the old ladies' speaking with North American accents. 3 screenshots (Source for 1, 2, 3):

enter image description here enter image description here enter image description here

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    It was shot in Canada somewhere, I would guess BC.
    – user13044
    Mar 5, 2017 at 15:52
  • The last image shows Canada Post community mailboxes. The street sign over her should reads Bennett Ave. Mar 5, 2017 at 16:09
  • I suggest you return to link 1 and look for a "contact" link and ask. I found several pages that say "produced by Knucklehead and directed by Siri Bunford" thedrum.com/news/2015/01/02/ad-day-hsbc-pink-ladies and shots.net/videos/video/85980/hsbc%3A-the-pink-ladies Mar 5, 2017 at 16:20
  • I would update my earlier comment about BC to Alberta, since none of the cars have front license plates.
    – user13044
    Mar 5, 2017 at 16:25

1 Answer 1

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The HSBC - HSBC ADVANCE / J. Walter Thompson London Pink Ladies commercial was shot in Acme, Alberta, Canada:

The Capitol regional newspaper covered it in this article, published 4 May 2014:

Commercial shot in Acme

Residents of Acme were all sent notices advising of a commercial being shot on the Village's Main Street for two days starting Tuesday, May 6. There will be a third day of filming in the Calgary area.

The street was shut down and crews manned the barricades. On Monday, crews for Means of Production Inc., of Vancouver, Canada were setting up, including laying out fake snow. It mostly blew away early Tuesday morning with the cold wind. Scouting for the location began three weeks prior and came down to Acme, Beiseker or Rockyford. The script called specifically for a small place on the Canadian prairies for certain scenes. The cast comes from Toronto, Calgary, and Vancouver, while the Producer is from England.

Acme's Seniors' Centre serves as a warm place for management, crew and actors, while Acme's Coyote Pub has been turned into a hair salon to depict a story plot around "The Pink Ladies" (as per the notices given to residents), of a young, third generation female thinking she would rather be following a career path of fashion design versus running her mother's and grandmother's salon.

In case you want to take notice in a couple of months of the locally shot commercial, it is for the international bank - Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC).

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    Acme would be in Alberta, not BC. The picture with the mountain is a bit suspicious, though, I think where Acme is is fairly flat prairie.
    – user38879
    Mar 5, 2017 at 22:00
  • You have to love a community small enough that a commercial being shot there means they send a notice to literally everyone who lives there. Mar 5, 2017 at 22:41
  • The third screenshot in the question is at the corner of Main & Bennett in Acme. However, I also suspect that the other two shots were taken elsewhere, perhaps during the "other day of filming in the Calgary area". In particular, as far as I can tell Acme does not have a railroad. Mar 6, 2017 at 4:03
  • Out of curiosity I googled for places in Alberta having a Roxy theatre. The first two pictures turn out to be in Crows Nest Pass, AB, in what used to be Coleman. The first is looking west on 17 Ave, the second south on 78 St.
    – user38879
    Mar 6, 2017 at 18:37
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    @Dennis: Good catch; you might want to post that as a separate answer. Also, I'm amused that they replaced Pepsi with milk in the ad on the wall of the Roxy. Mar 7, 2017 at 3:16

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