The uncomfortable fact behind Christmas is that many beloved festive traditions are unhealthy for the planet. Consciousness is rising across the environmental influence of the vacation season, which regularly comes with elevated consumption, meals waste and extra plastic packaging for items and wrapping paper.
Simply days after the top of COP 27 (the United Nations Local weather Change convention), a brand new advert from Posten (the Norwegian Postal Service) tackles the environmental injury of Christmas head on.
The quick movie, created by Norwegian company POL, addresses this concern by the allegory of a tumultuous romance. At first, a pair fall head over heels for one another in an idyllic rural setting and appear to be the “excellent match,” because the male narrator remembers. Additionally they have a “shared goal” to “give the kids what they wished.”
However over time, their relationship falls aside as their motivations diverge. They break up as the girl witnesses the person’s grasping habits of consumption. She accuses him of not taking any duty for his actions, crying out in despair: “What world are you dwelling in? That is all we’ve bought!”
It turns into clear early on within the movie that the person is Father Christmas, and the girl is Mom Earth. After Mom Earth leaves Santa, he wonders: “Can’t we discover a means that we will reside collectively?”
Santa later realizes the error of his methods, and the 2 are reunited when Mom Earth decides to present him one other likelihood. Father Christmas declares to her: “I can’t reside with out you. Nobody can.”
The advert ends with the warning: “Mom Earth has no extra possibilities to present.” It informs viewers that this yr solely 10 of the most important firms in Norway–together with Posten–minimize their emissions in step with the Paris Settlement, based on PWC Norway’s Local weather Index.
Posten desires to inspire different firms to step up their efforts to combat local weather change. As one of many area’s largest logistics firms, it additionally acknowledged that it’s a part of the issue. Posten has minimize 51% of its CO2 emissions to date and goals for all of its distribution to be emissions-free by 2030.
A twist on festive tropes
Posten isn’t any stranger to tackling social points by its Christmas advertisements. Final yr, “When Harry Met Santa” confirmed a constructive portrayal of LGBTQ+ relationships to mark the 50-year anniversary of Norway abolishing a regulation prohibiting identical intercourse relations. It instructed the story of a person falling in love with one other man–who occurred to be Santa–and went on to win a gold Lion within the Movie class at Cannes Lions.
In 2020, Posten’s Christmas advert mirrored the divisive political local weather by depicting Santa as an offended white man with a hanging resemblance to former American president Donald Trump.
Rikke Sofie Jacobsen and Pia Emilie Lystad, the inventive staff at POL who made each the most recent Posten advert and “When Harry Met Santa,” mentioned this yr they wished to deal with local weather change by an surprising angle.
“As a substitute of specializing in chilly numbers and local weather nervousness, this can be a love story the place now we have emphasised interpersonal emotions and the relationships now we have with these closest to us,” they defined to Adweek in a joint assertion.
Sean Meehan, who directed the movie by manufacturing firm Arts & Sciences (A&S), added that it was “exceedingly uncommon in promoting” to have the ability to inform a “nuanced story… with such a important message.”
Meehan added: “I hope extra manufacturers might be as courageous and trustworthy as Posten have been on this challenge in regards to the existential disaster we collectively face.”
Posten is just not the primary model to speak about local weather change in a Christmas advert. Final yr, for instance, Australian monetary companies firm Erste Groupe launched an animated movie during which a father-to-be adopts a extra sustainable life-style throughout the holidays as he envisions a greater planet for his future daughter.
CREDITS:
Shopper: Posten (The Norwegian Postal Service)
Marketing campaign supervisor: Hege Barbara Aarhus
Advertising and marketing director: Monica Solberg
Company: POL
Copywriter: Rikke Sofie Jacobsen
Artwork director: Pia Emilie Lystad
Planner: Simon Karlsson
Account director: Marius Eriksen
Account supervisor: Kristin E.B. Scheele
Designer: Benjamin Rogers
Movement designer: Ole Jacob Bøe Skattum
Movie manufacturing: Arts & Sciences
Director: Sean Meehan
DOP: Sean Meehan
Govt producers: Sam McGarry, James Bland
Head of manufacturing: Lauren Highman
A&S rep Scandinavia: Tom Rickard
Line manufacturing: BAS Productions
Producer: Andrej Caruso
Manufacturing supervisor: Alja Primec
Manufacturing designer: Miha Knific
Costume designer: Valter Kobal
Modifying firm: Lower+Run
Editors: Moss Eletreby, Steve Gandolfi
Assistant editor: Thomas De la Rosa
Managing associate: Michelle Eskin
Govt producer: Amburr Farls
Head of manufacturing: Brady Fiero
Producer: Brian Scharwath
Sound combine: Huge Music
Sound design: Simon Kane
Foley: John Simpson, FeetnFrames
Ultimate combine: Simon Kane
Music: Turning Studios
Composer: Elliott Wheeler
Put up manufacturing: Alter Ego
Govt producer: Hilda Pereira
Producer: Andrew Tavares
Senior colorist: Eric Whipp
Lead VFX artist: Joel Osis
VFX artists: Igor Boros, Eric Perrella
DMP artist: Bojan Zoric
VFX assistants: Victoria Gaston, Nupur Desai
Colour assistant: Daniel Saavedra
