Arthur Sadoun binges potato chips with a COVID belly in Publicis' holiday video

Publicis' annual holiday video, which as usual is humorously fronted by CEO Arthur Sadoun and his predecessor Maurice Levy, this year features an interesting surprise: The pair announce that Former First Lady Michelle Obama will speak at an online event exclusively for employees. This year’s film sees the pair slobbing out on a sofa, Sadoun with a COVID belly, eating chips with masks slung below their chins.

After watching clips of their former glitzy conferences, Levy, who is now chairman of Publicis Groupe's supervisory board, bemoans the end of the “good old days” and asks Sadoun to put on a seminar. After initially looking incredulous about doing this in a pandemic, Sadoun, whose cat is by now licking his potato-chip-strewn socks, agrees to do just that, with an event for 80,000 people on Marcel. 

Walt Disney’s Executive Chairman Bob Iger and Microsoft’s CEO Satya Nadella will also speak during the four day seminar, taking place from December 14-17, in fireside-style interviews building on the key themes of the event, which include diversity, quality and inclusion.  

“After such a challenging year we owe our people more than wishes for 2021," said Sadoun in a statement. “This is our way to deeply thank everyone at Publicis for their contribution over the last 12 months; to celebrate all their achievements in striking back during this crisis; and set a clear course for the future. At a time when most of us are still isolated, we believe it is our duty to unite everyone and demonstrate once again that when we wish together, we will together.”

Publicis also said the event on Marcel would be “an opportunity to share our roadmap for the upcoming year, set out how we will help our clients win in a platform world, and affirm our commitment to diversity, equality and inclusion.”  It will also set out five key initiatives for reinventing the future of work.