There is nary an agency that’s saying “bah humbug” to the creative holiday “card” trend (we mark this with quotes because, well, there are very few simple fold-out cards. We’re talking agencies creating apps, books, clothing, videos, inventions, etc. to spread their holiday cheer these days). We’re not complaining, but we’d just like to note that there was a flood of them this week and last, so much so that we couldn’t keep up, and we decided to spread them out into a two-part series. Here is the first of the batch, stay tuned for more next week Tuesday.
BIMM sent a mysterious box…
Just when we had given up on finding the perfect gift for uncle Bill and cousin Julie, who we never know what to give on Christmas day, BIMM came bursting through strategy’s doors with a solution to save the day.
Earlier this week, a young man, curiously dressed in steampunk attire, hand-delivered a mysterious white box. He strategically propped it in front of our publisher Mary Maddever, with the suggestion to fix her hair before opening (which she did). We half expected furry creatures (kittens!) to jump out at us, but luckily — for the sake of productivity levels — it was not. What we did find inside, however, was the next best thing: delicious (non-edible) treats, such as unicorn meat and an inflatable turkey.
They’re the kinds of things one would find if they were to explore the direct and digital agency’s Giftalyzer site, which now comes in a 2.0 version, with bigger and better (not to mention weird) gifts for the hard-to-buy-for people in your life. The shop also added a real-time feature to the original site, so you can see what’s hot in stores right now.
The confusion-cum-excitement of the unboxing was captured on camera, too, hence the hint for Mary to correct her bangs. The folks at BIMM took the reverse POV footage of our reactions and sliced it up into a neat little video below. If there’s anything that gets strategy folk excited, it’s big surprise boxes, as you can tell from the incessant picture-taking.
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Scan any gift under the tree, and JWT will introduce you to the elves that made it
Maybe we’re a little old to still believe in pixie dust and elves on shelves that come to life after dark, but we do. That’s why, when we were sent this holiday gift from our friends at J. Walter Thompson, that belief in magic was reawakened. The global team at the agency somehow figured out how to be in our home on Christmas day.
It created a nifty app (called Santa Had Help) that allows a person to scan any gift under the tree, and then view a funny video of Santa’s elves talking about how they made said gift. From clothing to electronics, the agency thought of almost everything a person could possibly receive on the big day. If anyone’s listening, we’d really like a car for Christmas this year so we can meet the elf (in the video below) who obviously doesn’t hold any grudges.
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Juggernaut designed “Snuggernaut adwear” for every possible occasion
How did nobody think of this before? A Snuggie with a Kangaroo belly pouch. Pure genius.
The idea for the holiday gift was born inside the offices at Juggernaut, a production shop with a track record of ideas as good as this one (anyone remember Cards Against Advertising?).
They dubbed the altered body wrap “Snuggernaut” and have made cheat sheets for people who don’t quite have the imagination to see how stylish (and functional) this garment can be. You can see some uses below and share your own on social media. We’re counting down the days until we can use this puppy for scare tactics next Halloween (think: human heads or random confetti-cannon blasts popping out of the pouch when someone walks by).
WAX is giving clients garbage ideas for Christmas
If at first you don’t succeed, try, try, try again.
The proverb could not feel more appropriate than it does for this neat little holiday gift Wax is graciously giving clients this year. They’re turning water into wine, so to speak, recycling their garbage ideas into sweet little tree ornaments.
Sure, they’re admitting that sometimes the agency can have a bad idea or two (like when they wanted to make a gas-flavoured slushie or charge Moxie diners for cheap leftover food on Wednesdays), but they also show they know how to make lemonade out of lemons, or in their case, paper balls out of paper.
That time in 2015… when High Road made a killer holiday gift
No doubt, one of the biggest trends to come out of 2015 is “adults being kids, again.” The colouring book made a comeback, and it seems it made the folks at High Road think to themselves, “Why focus on creating a holiday card around a single big hit, when we can have a whole smorgasbord of trends inside another trend?” Enter the adult colouring book with drawings of the hottest items of 2015.
The book was created by the agency, and hosts outlines of people, things and events like the Bautista bat flip, dead raccoons, #emojimania, dancing fish and pizza-eating rats. So, now, you can not only relive these moments, but really study them with hours-upon-hours of colouring in the lines and wondering where all your time went over the holidays.
This is what 370 Mosaic voices in four cities singing in unison sounds like
Mosaic may have just struck music gold this holiday season. If the agency ever decides to call it quits on advertising, we’d suggest it take a look at the entertainment biz. They have some talented folks with pretty impressive pipes on them, as you’ll surely agree after watching its holiday spot below.
The shop’s four offices came together to create one massive choir. That’s a whopping 372 voices singing a holiday tune in unison, with the help of Choir, Choir, Choir (a local Toronto group that guides friends and strangers through songs in public places). And it’s mesmerising.
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