Part 2 of Our 2019 Agency Holiday Card Roudup

Agency holiday cards keep rolling in, so we’re going to keep showcasing some of the best of 2019. You can find the link to our first roundup here. Aloysius Butler & Clark—The AB&C’s of Holiday Survival Aloysius Butler & Clark has created a holiday survival guide and care package to help us all get through the more difficult aspects of the holidays (like political discussions at the dinner table and unwanted fruit cakes). In addition to necessities like Tylenol, ear plugs and hand sanitizer, the care package's survival guide booklet has tips for all sorts of holiday conundrums you may find yourself in this year (see a few of the pages below). [kickout id="21"] [kickout id="22"] [kickout id="23"] DNA Seattle—Sleeping Gift Box Independent agency DNA Seattle has created a gift box full of sleep-related items, including a Remee sleeping mask and the book “Why We Sleep.” According to the agency, “in an age when it feels like we’re all being pulled down by the grind of the news cycle, we wanted to invite people to close their eyes, look inward for a moment and dream bigger dreams.” [kickout id="13"] [kickout id="14"] KSV—Halfy Holidays This year, full-service agency KSV literally cut its holiday cards in half to cut down on waste—and make a point about consumption during this time of year. The other halves of the cards can be found on KSV’s site, where visitors can find out what charities the agency donated to in lieu of full holiday cards this year. Each card represents a different charity: for instance, one featuring a snowman symbolizes the agency’s donation to the Ocean Conservancy. [kickout id="19"] Levelwing—Cast Iron Skillet Levelwing, a digital marketing agency with offices in New York, San Francisco and Charleston, S.C., is gifting a handcrafted cast iron skillet to clients and friends this year. According to the Levelwing, the skillets were made by Charleston-based Smithey Ironware Co., a brand the agency works with. [kickout id="10"] [kickout id="11"] Major Tom—The 12 Days of Christmas: A Canadian Parody Canadian agency Major Tom decided to forgo sending holiday cards or gifts this year and instead use its budget to make a $5,000 donation to a number of charities. However, the agency still put together a “low budget” holiday video that features employees from the agency recreating “Great White North,” a comedy album by fictional television characters Bob and Doug McKenzie (played by actors Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas). In the video, two of the agency’s employees lip-sync the pair’s "12 Days of Christmas" parody. [kickout id="24"] Manifold—2020 Vision As we prepare to ring in the new year, experiential marketing agency Manifold has created an eye exam-themed gift card that wishes us “2020 vision” for the year ahead. The card, which has a hidden message on the front in the form of an anaglyph, comes with 3D glasses. “We loved how the inclusion of inexpensive, simple 3D glasses allowed for an interactive holiday card centered around 2020 vision,” the agency said. “Our internal designers, as well as illustrator Josh Ellingson, played with the cyan and magenta layers to hide a message on the front (Keep Your Imagination Focused and Your Eyes Clear), while inside creating an image that jumped off the card in 3D, or 'perfect 2020 vision,' both revealed only by putting on the glasses and looking at the card. Old school magic tricks like this fascinate us, and made the receiving of the card an experience…on brand for a brand experience agency." [kickout id="20"] [kickout id="29"] Merkley + Partners—Legal-Vetted Holiday Card Merkley + Partners had a bit of fun this year by imagining what it would look like if legalese appeared within holiday cards. It’s about as ridiculous as you’d expect, as the agency's simple holiday greeting from employees is fraught with disclaimers such as “this video does not in any way guarantee a happy holiday.” “It was pretty satisfying being able to poke fun at an industry standard that we normally have little control over. Dare we say, the legal is our favorite part of this video. Miracles do happen, folks,” the agency said. [kickout id="16"] Planet Propaganda—Frankly’s Fine-Crafted Gift Tags What if we were all a little more honest on our gift tags each year? What if you admitted that the gift your mom is about to open is being regifted to her, or that you really didn’t feel like spending money on a present for your brother's girlfriend? Planet Propaganda, a creative agency based in Madison, Wis., is having a bit of fun with this concept for their holiday card this year. The shop has created Frankly’s Fine-Crafted Gift Tags to help clients, friends and partners “say the things they really want to say” during the holidays. [kickout id="5"] [kickout id="6"] [kickout id="7"] Pound & Grain—404 Coffee Creative agency Pound & Grain has created a chocolate-flavored coffee that’s “perfect for the holidays.” Called 404 Coffee, the custom joe was made in partnership with Elysian Coffee Roasters and the Perez family of Finca La Soledad in Guatemala. To complement the coffee, the Canadian agency also whipped up a recipe for “Hustle Fuel,” a holiday beverage made from 404 Coffee, brandy, whipped cream and a mixture of spices. A video that explains how to make Hustle Fuel can be found below (or on 404 Coffee’s website). [kickout id="3"] [kickout id="2"] [kickout id="1"] Publicis Groupe—2020 Wishes Publicis Groupe has released yet another wacky video featuring CEO Arthur Sadoun for the holidays this year. In the tongue-in-cheek video, Sadoun admits that he decided to make the holiday video himself this year so as to spare his “exhausted” employees. “It’s just me, a smartphone and my assistant,” he says. “Nowadays, anyone can produce content.” As he goes on to thank the holding company for a successful 2019, just about every technical glitch crops up, including issues with his microphone and problems with the recording. It’s only at the end that viewers see who his "assistant" who's been filming is. [kickout id="15"] The Richards Group—A Christmas Carol II (with apologies to Charles Dickens) We all know the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future, but The Richards Group has brought us some of their other, less famous counterparts for the holidays this year—and these ones are a bit more relatable. In A Christmas Carol II, you’ll meet the “Ghost of Regifting to the Original Gifter,” the “Ghost of Batteries Not Included” and the “Ghost of the In-Laws Who Are on a Diet on Christmas Day.” “The most fun was coming up with the illustrations for each ghost,” Ashlin Hart, art director at The Richards Group, said. “They couldn’t be too silly or too spooky—it is a Christmas card, after all. In the end, they each had their own unique personality that came out. One of the favorites is the Ghost of Pinterest Fails. Is he proud or defeated from the scribbled creation on the plate? We’re not really sure, but honestly, isn’t that how every Pinterest holiday project turns out?” [kickout id="17"] [kickout id="18"] Tierney — Holiday Cookbook Philadelphia-based agency Tierney’s 2019 holiday card is a cookbook that features recipes from 10 of its employees. Each recipe includes a short blurb from the employee who submitted it that explains why the treat is particularly special to them. “From family traditions to internet trends, our part-time bakers perfected their sweet (and sour) recipes to brighten up all of your festivities for years to come,” Tierney’s president and CEO Mary Stengel Austen wrote in the book. [kickout id="26"] [kickout id="27"] Wax–Politically Correct Christmas Carols In recent years, the 1944 Christmas song “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” has faced criticism for lyrics that, in the #MeToo era, don’t carry the same charm as they once did. In light of the backlash, Canadian agency Wax decided to make “politically correct” versions of the Christmas carols we all know and love. Wax put together a compilation of these “woke” carols, which were written and performed by copywriter Monica Sommerville. [kickout id="4"] “We started looking at all Christmas carols through an overly politically correct lens, and though, what if we tried to re-write them with the aim of trying to not offend anyone,” said Nick Asik, Wax creative director. Wolff Olins–OOO At this time of year, many an email receives a generic “out of office” reply. For the holidays, Wolff Olins decided to create some fun and festive “OOO” gifs and images for those who want to spread a bit of cheer to their colleagues who are still firing off emails. [kickout id="8"] [kickout id="9"]

Accounts

Agency Holiday Cards 2019, Part 2: A Batch of Our Favorite Creative Season’s Greetings

From quirky to charitable, the festive cards round out the year

Aloysius Butler & Clark—The AB&C’s of Holiday Survival

DNA Seattle—Sleeping Gift Box

Minda Smiley

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Aloysius Butler & Clark—The AB&C’s of Holiday Survival

DNA Seattle—Sleeping Gift Box

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Minda Smiley