A moody teen sums up how we're all feeling about Christmas 2020 in Meijer's heartfelt spot

Noam Murro directs ad for the midwest retailer via The Distillery Project

Published On
Dec 01, 2020

Editor's Pick

Despite the efforts of multiple advertisers to jolly us into the Christmas spirit in their holiday ads so far, the teenage protagonist in an ad by midwest retail chain Meijer just isn't feeling it in 2020. And maybe she speaks for many of us. 

"They might as well just cancel Christmas...they've canceled everything else," she mutters moodily as her little sister and parents decorate the tree and try to make things look festive. (She might be the long-lost soulmate of the animated teenager in the McDonald's ad from the U.K. this year.) However, she's dispatched off to cheer up her sister, and the two start singing  the opening lines of "Santa Claus is coming to town" together. The endline: "Believe...Christmas is coming," gives the word a new poignancy for 2020. 

The spot was created by The Distillery Project, and directed by Biscuit's Noam Murro, the director behind feature film work like “300: Rise of an Empire."

"The Meijer holiday spot has never been about selling product—it’s always been more of a Christmas wish for the community,” says John Condon,founder and chief creative officer of The Distillery Project, in a statement. “This spot is about empathy and hope—we’re not at our best when we pout, even though it’s a totally legitimate reaction to everything that’s happened this year.”

The work is airing on network and cable TV in regions where Meijer has stores as well as online, with an emphasis on YouTube and paid social media. Buys include NBC's Sunday Night Football,” “The Sound of Music” (ABC), “Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas the Musical” (NBC), “The American Music Awards” (ABC), and “Fox NFL.”

Credits

Date
Dec 01, 2020
Client :
Meijer
Agency :
The Distillery Project
Founder/Copywriter :
John Condon
Founding Partner/CSO :
Ben Kline
Head of Operations/Partner :
Kim Tanner
Head of Production/Partner :
Nik Traxler
Producer :
Brenda Cortes
Creative Director :
Chris Pollock
Account Director :
Annie Gray
Business Affairs Manager :
Bonnie Kalaf
Production :
Biscuit Filmworks
Director :
Noam Murro
Partner/Managing Director :
Shawn Lacy
Executive Producer :
Andrew Travelstead
Producer :
Emily Skinner
Head of Production :
Rachel Glaub
Head of Production :
Sean Moody
Director of Photography :
Eric Schmidt
Production Designer :
Brock Houghton
Editorial :
Rock Paper Scissors
Editor :
Damion Clayton
Assistant Editor :
Sebastian Zotoff
Producer :
Sasha Grubor
Head of Production :
Dre Krichevsky
Executive Producer :
Shada Shariatzdeh
Managing Director :
Eve Kornblum
Color :
A52 Color
Colorist :
Daniel De Vue
Producer :
Jenny Bright
Exec Producer :
Thatcher Peterson
Music Company :
JSM Music
CEO/CCO :
Joel Simon
VP/Executive Producer :
Jeff Fiorello
Producer :
Norm Felker
Producer :
Andrew Manning
Producer :
Sharon Cha
Audio House :
Margarita Mix
Re-Recording Mixer/Sound Designer :
Nathan Dubin
Assistant Engineer :
Sean Melia
Assistant Engineer :
Mike Murzyn
Operations Manager :
Brian Frank
Executive Producer :
Whitney Morris
Executive Producer :
Paula Arnett

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