Last month, U.K. grocer Waitrose delivered a cheerful ad celebrating classic autumn meals and the warmth they bring to a chilly season. Now the supermarket is back with a similar paean to Christmas dishes—and it's a fun little trip.
The 60-second commercial from adam&eveDDB features a range of items on sale at Waitrose locations, but is less about food porn than the feelings associated with preparing (and actually eating, though we don't really see it) holiday fare.
Happiness, anticipation and comfort are the driving dynamics—an unsurprising mix for the genre, but nice despite (or rather, because of) their familiarity. Patrick McClelland and Feargal Balance, creatives at adamandeveDDB, wrote the spot. Simon Ratigan at HLA directed it (as well as the brand's autumn ad). The soundtrack, Cab Calloway's "Everybody Eats When They Come to My House" is a perfect fit—elated, lighthearted, silly in a dated but endearing way.
"Whatever makes your Christmas, make it with Waitrose," encourages the voiceover, as the ad ends with a British holiday tradition—the flaming Christmas pudding.
Even here, across the pond, the ad makes it easy to imagine stuffing yourself at a year's-end feast, whatever your tradition—assuming you can make it through Thanksgiving first.
CREDITS
Client: Waitrose
Project name: Make it with Waitrose
Client: Joanne Massey, Senior Marketing Manager. Libby Langridge, Marketing Manager
Chief Creative Officer Ben Priest
Executive Creative Directors Ben Tollett, Richard Brim
Copywriter: Patrick McClelland
Art director: Feargal Ballance
Agency TV producer: Suzy MacGregor,
Agency TV Production Assistant: Sion Prys
Agency Print producer: Nicola Applegate
Agency Digital Producer: Sion Prys
Planner: Dom Boyd & Will Grundy
Managing Director: Tammy Einav
Business Director: Victoria Day
Account manager: Sarah Gregory and Abi Robinson
Media agency: Manning Gottlieb OMD
Media planner: David Ellis
TV Production company: HLA
Director: Simon Ratigan
Production company: HLA
Producer: Tim Daukes
Editor: Adam Spivey @ The Playroom
DOP: Martin Hill
Post Production: The Mill
Colourist: Seamus O'Kane @ The Mill
Audio Post Production: 750MPH
Soundtrack name: Cab Calloway, Everybody eats when they come to my house.
Photographer Andy Sewell
Photographer's agency Blackdog Represents
Retouching company Stanley's Post
Digital production Company: Media Monks