Apple’s impressively crafted holiday spot blends live action with stop-motion animation.
Holiday ads typically start rolling out in the first week of November, but often the best work comes later. This past week, we got two great examples of this—from Tesco and Apple. Also among this week’s Top 5, we enjoyed a quirky spot from a brand with a quirky name, as well as wonderful Black Friday and Black-Owned Friday campaigns from companies that have long specialized in both.
Below, check out our five favorite campaigns from the week.
This past week saw the launch of 140-year-old fraternal organization Modern Woodmen’s first major brand campaign for its financial-services products. The work, from agency Cronin, is appealingly offbeat, with a pair of weathered 19th century cowboy types transported to the present day to salute moms—the target market—as modern-day pioneers. Directed by Brian Billow, the spot manages a nice balance of making old-school values feel relevant to today’s consumers. An impressively assured branding debut from a company that’s been sales-driven for decades.
Google’s Black-Owned Friday initiative has become an institution, and this year’s ebullient marketing for it didn’t disappoint. The company enlisted Keke Palmer to reimagine the ’90s classic “100% Pure Love” by Crystal Waters into a new anthem, “Black-Owned Friday (100% Supporting).” The shoppable video, featuring a range of Black-owned businesses across the country—coffee shops, clothing stores, plant shops and much more—was directed by Andre Muir, who beautifully profiles the store owners. Another great piece of creative for a great consumer program.
Cards Against Humanity has a long history of doing fun Black Friday stunts, and this year’s was impressively extensive—as the party game company built a whole social network, with a twist. Users of the Yowza site were only able to post a single word, “yowza,” comically reducing the chances of misinformation and other problems that have plagued all the popular social nets. Cards Against Humanity really nails its cultural satires, and given Elon Musk’s past 12 months of X antics, this one felt particularly well timed.
Yowza offered $69,420 to whoever who got the most user referrals on Friday.
Tesco took a few weeks longer than most British advertisers to unveil its Christmas advert, and it was well worth the wait. The BBH spot amusingly depicts Christmas spirit as a physical affliction, with a mum and dad who turn into a snowperson and a Christmas tree, respectively, as their excitement for the holiday builds. The lone holdout is their teenage son, who resists the urge to embrace the season, feeling it’s too childish—though in the end, it’s a nostalgic nod to his own past that convinces him to get with the program. Sweet storytelling and fun visuals make this a holiday spot to remember.
Apple brought a lovely mix of craft and storytelling to its 2023 holiday ad, which tells the tale of an office worker who uses her after-hours stop-motion skills to work through a conflict with her boss. The animation work by Swedish artist Anna Mantzaris is marvelous, and the George Harrison track “Isn’t It a Pity” is a perfect choice for the slow-burn narrative. The short film also does a fine job, as usual for Apple, of showing off the product—in this case, the iPhone 15 Pro Max and its 48-megapixel camera. Between Amazon, Tesco and Apple, we’ve gotten some great holiday spots in recent weeks. Let’s hope there’s still more gifts on the way.
