From saucy snowmen to trendy trees, Vancouver-based BC Hydro’s holiday campaign this year emphasizes that being energy efficient doesn’t mean sacrificing appearances.

Three print/OOH executions feature a snowman and two trees striking catwalk-worthy poses to show off their eye-catching holiday light displays, made with energy efficient LED lights instead of less enviro-friendly incandescent bulbs. The tag is ‘Make a statement with LED lights.’

‘The original brief was really about the aesthetic value of these LED lights,’ explains Alan Russell, CD at DDB Canada’s Vancouver office. ‘In a way it’s a fashion statement when people are dressing up their homes.’

Russell says his creative team decided to take the campaign a step further, and concocted an interactive street component that would demonstrate both the aesthetic and energy-saving features of LED lights. In late November, bicycle-powered LED light displays launched in Vancouver’s Stanley Park and in Kamloops, B.C. Passersby are able to hop on the stationary bikes to light up surrounding trees.

The street effort also includes a holiday-themed billboard in downtown Vancouver, also powered by a bicycle – this time operated by hired street team members, as it would be too risky to invite passersby to climb up to the billboard platform. And, a transit shelter, also in downtown Vancouver, will be equipped with a hand-cranked light display that the public can interact with.

client: Mike Krafczyk, manager customer communications, BC Hydro

agency: DDB Canada, Vancouver

CD: Alan Russell

copywriter: Kevin Rathgeber

AD: Dan Strasser

photographer: Scott Morgan

producer: Gayle Robson

account director: Terra Thibodeau