Ads We Like: McCann Santiago and Ripley pay animated tribute to those who serve on Christmas Eve
While most might think of Christmas as being a time of snow and cold, in the southern hemisphere of the planet it´s the opposite: the beginning of the summer season where the fire warnings are high.
The Magical Night of Gaspar highlights firepeople who work Christmas Eve
To highlight those who devote themselves to keeping others safe, retail brand Ripley and McCann Santiago are paying an animated tribute to firefighters and other people who must work on Christmas Eve. The animated short film features a main character who is both a fireman and family man.
The three-minute animated short film, ‘The Magical Night of Gaspar,’ produced by Academy Award winner PunkRobot (‘Story of a bear’), tells the story created by McCann Santiago about the Alegría (Happiness) family and their interrupted celebration of Christmas Eve because the father, Gaspar, is called for Christmas Eve duty. Even though Gaspar is disappointed, his wife doesn’t want to upset the children, so she tells them he is helping Santa that night. The kids are excited and help him prepare for his big night. He goes to the firehouse sad and alone, but finds his holiday spirit and decorates the fire engines with lights. Families gather around, including his own, making for an uplifting Christmas for all.
“Firemen in Chile have something special, they are volunteers, and their service is because of their vocation; and in a season where their duty is so important for the country, we wanted to point out by their example the individual sacrifice each of them give up for society,” said Jose Ignacio Solari, McCann Santiago chief creative officer.
Added Pilar Barriga, marketing manager at Ripley: “We decided to make magic happen this Christmas. Through a 360-campaign, we worked with Facebook to bring a message to Chilean and Peruvian families that revives and emphasizes social values and vocation to serve of all the people who help us around those dates.”
The campaign included PR activations such as the iconic Christmas tree lighting in Plaza de Armas, the most relevant square in Santiago, where the short film characters were present, along with a social networks strategy on retail store channels.
See the film by clicking on the Creative Works box below.
