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).
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.”
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.
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.
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.
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.”
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.
