Sainsbury’s enters the Christmas ad battle with its musical three-minute animation

Date
14 November 2016

Heating up the competition between the retailers for the best Christmas ad is Sainsbury’s with its musical offering of festive joy titled, The Greatest Gift.

Created by AMV BBDO and Passion Animation Studios the three-minute long animation tells the story of Dave and his ongoing struggle to achieve that perfect work-life balance. Through a bit of a sing-song and some amateur cloning, Dave realises at the end that the best gift he can give his family is his time.

The spot took seven weeks to create and has been directed by Academy Award and Bafta nominee Sam Fell. The animation combines traditional stop motion with hi-tech 3D printing techniques never previously used in the UK.

While the idea, “Christmas is for sharing” isn’t a completely new concept, there’s humour and fun weaved throughout the ambitious ad, including a twerking colleague and train delays caused by one single snowflake.

The spot is accompanied by a musical number that narrates the entire film, which has been written by Bret McKenzie, of Flight of the Conchords fame, and sung by comedian and Carpool Karaoke-fiend James Corden.

Like John Lewis, the last few years have seen Sainsbury’s upping its game in the Christmas ad stakes, which last year saw the retailer bring back fictional cat, Mog – the most-viewed Christmas ad of 2015 with 30 million views.

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AMV BBDO: The Greatest Gift, Sainsbury’s (still)

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AMV BBDO: The Greatest Gift, Sainsbury’s (still)

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AMV BBDO: The Greatest Gift, Sainsbury’s (still)

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AMV BBDO: The Greatest Gift, Sainsbury’s (still)

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About the Author

Rebecca Fulleylove

Rebecca Fulleylove is a freelance writer and editor specialising in art, design and culture. She is also senior writer at Creative Review, having previously worked at Elephant, Google Arts & Culture, and It’s Nice That.

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