Christmas ads that worked (or not) this season
From sappy to silly, holiday campaigns leave observers with plenty to chew over
Tugging at the heartstrings to loosen up the purse-strings is typical in Christmas advertising. Sometimes it works and stays in your mind well past the holiday spending season (for instance, WestJet Airlines, which is expected to release its latest heartwarmer next week). But some big brands have already hit a sour note with their choices this year. Two top Toronto advertising executives find Christmas advertising never leaves them at a loss for words. Edeka
This year’s TV ad for the German supermarket chain features a lonely old man who finally gets his family together at Christmas thanks to his death. The ad went viral when it was released last week, drawing varying reactions from tears to eye-rolling. But the shot of the elderly dad eating alone in silence at the dinner table hit home with most who saw it.
“This is solid storytelling with an unexpected twist,” says Jeff Swystun, president of Toronto’s Swystun Communications. “Some have said the message is manipulative, but I was interested to learn that Germany’s aging population is no small matter. So this is a bit of a public service announcement with liberal doses of guilt.”
Jill King, president of Sandbox Advertising Inc., adds: “Yowza. While I think the production values are terrific, I found this commercial rather creepy. What would have been a really funny twist is if they all got super angry and stormed out on the old guy.” Microsoft
Here’s a rarity: uber-competitive tech giants showing each other love, all wrapped up in the spirit of Christmas. No, really. The backdrop is New York City, and young Microsoft office workers decide to pay their arch-enemies at Apple a friendly visit as a children’s choir sings songs of peace. High-fives ensue.
King says that increasingly, brands are filming interactions with the public, and large-scale versions like this one “are very tricky to pull off. A lot can go wrong, but I think Microsoft did a really good job with this.
“Unlike the brinkmanship feel of Burger King challenging McDonald’s to co-create a McWhopper, Microsoft didn’t try to make Apple look bad, but rather made a genuine point about peace and unity. Nicely done.”
Swystun adds: “This works for one grand reason. Microsoft has been uncool for many years, even before the famous ads from Apple with the two gents whose different looks and personality represented the two companies. With this ‘Harmony’ ad, Microsoft cannot claim an absolute win, but this gains them a bit of parity, and it was clever to co-opt the holidays to make it happen.” Coke
Under attack for this ad’s offensive and seemingly racist tone, the beverage behemoth pulled its latest holiday commercial, which featured fresh-faced and fair-skinned hipster teens delivering bottles of pop and erecting a giant red monument to Coke before a bewildered Mexican community. Coca-Cola issued a rare apology, but Mexico’s lax advertising regulations — which have come under fire before — were also blamed.
“White kids playfully bringing cool- ers of soda to indigenous people, cuddling them and lighting a makeshift tree with Coke branded bottle caps. Wow. Where to begin? I can’t believe that not one person involved in this massive production didn’t stop and say: ‘Is this in bad taste?’ ” says King.
Swystun called the intended message of unity a miscalculation. “It is a surprise that testing did not reveal the issue of stereotyping and demeaning. It is bizarre that blame has been placed on Mexican regulators when the brand and the agency are culpable and may have misled each other on this one.” Tim Hortons
The chain’s #WarmWishes campaign kicked off with the transfor- mation of a Grimsby, Ont., outlet into a snow-covered log cabin, complete with holiday lights and chalet-style interior. And, for one day, the restaurant’s customers can request good deeds on behalf of their community, and Tim Hortons will help make them a reality.
“Very community-minded, very local, very Tim Hortons,” says King. “I really like the construct of Tim’s using their money and resources to enable the charitable wishes of others, and while it’s clearly a commercial it’s also clearly real people.”
Swystun notes: “Tim Hortons is authentic Canadiana and incredibly sly when it comes to getting recognition for all of its good deeds. If you are jaded, you would say this campaign is self-congratulatory.”