Are you a tiny sentient sprout-person who is hated by everyone, even at Christmas, when people are supposed to be nicer to other people (and vegetables)? Never fear. The stars of British TV shows have room for you at their table.
That's the strange, not very relatable but still somewhat cute premise of RKCR/Y&R's big new Christmas ad for BBC One. Directed by Smith & Foulkes—best known perhaps for their Honda ads through Wieden + Kennedy London—the BBC spot is narrated by current Doctor Who actor Peter Capaldi, and follows the plight of an unloved sprout as he navigates a mostly hostile winter wonderland.
Sprout Boy meets a baker, a toy maker and a woodcutter along the way, but they all reject him outright. Luckily, he stumbles upon a dinner being hosted by BBC One stars, who welcome him.
The animated BBC One cast includes Doctor Who, Dot Cotton, Graham Norton, Sherlock and Watson, Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman, Will.i.am, Mary Berry and Luther. The tagline is: "For Christmas together: BBC One."
"BBC One truly is the home of Christmas, with more families watching it together than any other channel. Our endearing little Sprout Boy celebrates this sense of togetherness," says Alison Hoad, vice chairman of RKCR/Y&R.
Smith & Foulkes added: "The BBC One team asked us to tell a story that encapsulates the spirit and excitement of a contemporary British Christmas. The resulting campaign is probably as close as you can get to a visual representation of this."
Hopefully the BBC folks don't like the sproutlet enough to eat him.
CREDITS
Client: BBC
Agency: RKCR/Y&R
Executive Creative Director: Mark Roalfe
Creative Director: Marc Hatfield
Head of Planning: Emily James
Business Director: David Pomfret
Account Director: Fabia Palliser
Account Manager: Ilona Lunny
Agency Producer: Edel Erickson
Animation Production Company: Nexus
Directors: Smith & Foulkes
ECD: Chris O'Reilly
Producer: Tracey Cooper
Production Manager: Fernanda Garcia Lopez
CG Supervisor: Ben Blundell
Storyboard: Gabriel Schucan, Richard Fitzgerald
Character Designer: Max Kostenko, Gillian Reid, Ben Godfrey, Daniel Burgess
Matte Painters: Adam Willis, Callum Strachan, Marco Caradonna, Daniel Burgess, Adam Leary
Modeling: RedKnuckles, James Hardingham, Matthew Clark, Sophie Loubiere, Juan Carlos Gracia
Texture Artists: Benjamin Lebourgeois, Arkin Esref
Animation: Dominic Griffiths, Roland Edwards, Aziz Kocanaogullari, Benjamin Tron, Edward Sherwood, Jean-Guillaume Culot
Rigging Technical Director: Pete Addington
Rigging: Dan Lane, Anthony Vincent
Lighting & Rendering: Darren Rolmanis, Andy Spence, Kevin Russell, Dorianne Filbeuil,
VFX: Pierre Clenet, Tobin Brett
Compositing: Ken Hau, Elliott Kajdan, Alexander Swann, Leslie Belot
Editor: David Slade
Post Production / Grade: Simone Grattarola @ Time Based Arts
Sound Design: Anthony Moore & Tom Joyce @ Factory
Sound Design Producer: Raluca Anastasiu @ Factory
Music Composer: Alex Baranowski C/O Siren
Executive Music Producer: Sean Atherton @ Siren
Music Producer: Sian Rogers @ Siren
Musicians: London Symphony Orchestra
@ Abbey Road Studios