Ads We Like: HP and Michel Gondry reimagine 12 Days of Christmas with mobile twist
Director Michel Gondry has mastered both long and short form films, from music videos for Bjork to feature films like Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Now, he brings his unique vision to HP’s holiday campaign, a magical reimagining of the 12 Days of Christmas.
HP's 12 Days of Real Time
The technicolor spot is meant to promote all the crafty things one can do with a HP printer, especially as it pertains to mobile holiday snaps, and it's designed to get people to balance screen and 'real' time.
Since HP found that the average family spends over 250 hours on screens during the holidays, the tech company figured it would help families ‘get real’ in its latest spot from GS&P.
Directed by Academy Award-winner Gondry, the film rewrites the classic Christmas carol by showing a young girl watching a surreal screen-obsessed world of “teens-a-texting”, “lads-a-liking” and even an oversized Santa singing “nine swipers swiping” as the action segues from stretched couches to coordinated sledding on snowy mountains and spinning dinner tables.
But with a little help from a HP printer, the world is transformed into ‘12 days of Real Time’, with “sisters spinning” (paper dreidels), “fellas flying” (paper airplanes) and something called “oreejami” (origami). It ends with “a screen-free family” happily wearing holiday toques.
HP also partnered with artists and influencers to develop more than 250 hours of printable activities. The ‘Print the Holidays’ content includes exclusive comic books by @adamtots, original coloring pages by @boccaccinimeadows, holiday bingo by @adamjk, Star Wars and Frozen content from Disney, recipes from AllRecipes.com, and even a paper airplane designed by Gondry himself.
“Holidays are about spending quality time with loved ones – however our research found that screen time increases during the holidays,” said Deepak Masand, global head of print marketing at HP Inc. “At HP, we fervently believe in enabling more real connections with more than 250 hours of engaging, printable content – enabling togetherness this holiday season.”
A behind-the-scenes film shows the attention to detail Gondry and the production team had when designing and filming the spot.
See the films and craft examples by clicking the Creative Works box below.
