Swedish agency Le Bureau teamed up with Seattle-based animation studio The Academy’s Swedish collective known as Brikk to create a two minute PSA for Red Cross Sweden.
The ad tries to convince Swedes to give Red Cross parcels to those in need for Christmas, rather than buying something they won’t even remember next year. Or, as Brikk puts it, “We together with Red Cross think that a food package to Syria is a better Christmas gift than a fitness band, and that’s what we are trying to communicate in the animation.”
To accomplish this, the animation highlights just how many gifts are forgotten, or even sold secondhand online after the holiday season. “Don’t buy thoughtless presents for the ones you care for, buy something special that shows they mean more,” says the spot’s rhyming narrator, positing Red Cross gifts as the answer. Near the end of the PSA he gets a little more direct, saying, “…this year don’t buy shit, make an active choice.” The candidness is refreshing, and should get more people to share what otherwise could have been a very dry message.
Credits:
Client: Red Cross Sweden
Title: “Another Christmas Carol,” 2:00
Agency: Le bureau, Sweden
Director: Björn Johansson
Producer: Samuel Fast
Illustration: Björn Johansson
Animation: Björn Johansson / Viktor Khan / Edward Moulder / Samuel Fast
Voiceover script: Le bureau
Music: Joel Andersson
Sound design: Joel Andersson