Sainsbury’s has unveiled its Christmas advertising campaign which is a change in direction from the ‘Christmas specials’ of recent years into an extension of the retailer’s year-round Living Well campaign. From pigs in blankets to novelty socks, ripped paper hats to Brussels sprouts, “Every Bit of Christmas” celebrates the many ways that Brits live well over the festive season. The 90 second spot was directed by We Are From L.A, the talented French directing duo famed for making Pharrell Williams’ “Happy” music video.
The creative agency behind this year’s campaign is Wieden+Kennedy London. The media agency is PHD and digital agencies are Analog Folk and Gravity Road.
The campaign is borne from the insight that Christmas is the time of the year that people most enjoy living well and take joy in all the little things that make it so special. The song’s lyrics feature some of the things that make up a typical modern Christmas in the UK. Research commissioned by Sainsbury’s revealed that cracker jokes and losing the end of the sticky tape topped the list.
The campaign centers around an upbeat, festive song written by lyricist Ben “Doc Brown” Smith and composed by Mikis Michaelides. It features members of the public and Sainsbury’s colleagues singing about the things that help them to live well at Christmas time. It also includes cameos from well-known festive favorites Ricky Tomlinson and Kermit the Frog.
In a departure from the ‘Christmas special’, this year’s creative is an extension of Sainsbury’s year-round campaign launched in January which celebrates the ways that the nation lives well and the joy of food. Staying true to the year-round creative, the campaign is filmed in black and white, features real people rather than actors and heroes the retailer’s food products.
Laura Boothby, Head of Broadcast Communications at Sainsbury’s, said: “Living well has been at the heart of our advertising all year and there is no better time to celebrate that than at Christmas. There are so many rituals and moments that makes each person’s Christmas special and we wanted to feature as many of these as possible – and all set to a catchy festive tune!”
The campaign was shot on location in London, Cardiff, Manchester and Glasgow with a cast of 200 people – and some of their pets – as well as three colleagues from Sainsbury’s.
