The Xtend team says that a few years ago, it came up with a ground-breaking design for a geyser heating element that saves users up to 1 000 units of electricity per year.

"After three years of development, certification, lab and field testing, and installing thousands of XTEND elements, disaster struck: Covid-19," says XTEND investor / CEO Andrew Koch. "Our supply chain and manufacturing processing in China were hit by lockdowns, load shedding (not only a South African problem) and supply chain issues. We had no stock for the six months."

Amid this despair, another director, Richard Pickering, found himself chatting to local comedian celebrity Stuart Taylor at his son's school campout, according to the brand. The comedian explained that the comedy circuit had also been horrendously affected by Covid-19, and the two men decided to collaborate.

"Over a lager, they discussed how they could work together, have a laugh and get their livelihoods back in order. It was synchronicity, such a wonderful word, and an even better life experience, and we were flattered that Taylor wanted to work with us," adds Pickering.

An old university friend Alan Grove, now a London-based advertising executive, came up with their first video script.

"When he warned that 'This must be done by professionals', we weren't worried even though our budget was laughable as, with Taylor, we knew we had the best," says Pickering.

Pickering adds, "Taylor called in top South African comedy talent Rob van Vuuren and Kenwyn Davids to star, and Grant Atkinson to edit the new collaboration called: 'Willie and Dan stick it to the man'. They filmed three hilarious skits about saving money by using energy-saving XTEND elements to mitigate the serious cost of living crisis."

"After all, South Africans are very good at laughing in the face of crisis," says Taylor.

van Vuuren adds, "We did the joke about 'sticking it to the man' because Xtend draws less power and uses less energy, two to three fewer units per day for an average family. If you use Xtend with solar panels or batteries, it will make your system even more efficient and your home more self-reliant. The more geysers you use with Xtend elements, the more the positive impact multiplies."

Taylor says, "This happened during a time when people wanted to help each other not for the 'big bucks' but to uplift people through collaborating. During the pandemic, my mantra was 'Collaboration is key'. We worked together to create something cool and fun, and they saw the value in it. It was a novel and [a] funny way to market this great product."

"As a country, we face serious challenges and need high-quality solutions to address them. We are proud that Xtend is one of these solutions, and it is exciting to help address these serious issues light-heartedly," adds Taylor, with which Pickering concurs wholeheartedly! 

"If you do the math, customers install Xtend and pay Eskom less, so these videos are brought to you by Eskom," Taylor concludes. 



For more information, visit www.xtendelements.co.za. You can also follow Xtend Elements on Facebook.