BBC One says ‘enough’ to 2019: go live your best #XmasLife

BBC head of marketing Chris Hooper says he wants to get away from “poignant festive brand films” which he dismisses as “over-explored.”

So this effort for BBC One, by BBC Creative, is no tear jerker. It’s a range of festive scenarios featuring personalities who will be familiar to viewers of the channel, and Graham Norton, who’s familiar to everyone.

Set to a new version of Gorillaz’ Feel Good, Inc – this time with a rock choir – it was overseen by ECD Helen Rhodes, who recently joined the BBC from Wieden + Kennedy Portland, but hails originally from Kent.

Rhodes said: “Christmas doesn’t officially start until BBC One release their Christmas campaign, so we hope we’ve done the nation proud with a film that shakes off the shackles of 2019 and embraces our favourite time of the year. If showing a yoga-clad woman destroying avocados with a giant gingerbread, and a Maine Coon breed of cat riding on top of a Roomba, is wrong then I don’t want to be right.”

Hooper has succeeded in his stated vision to produce a “relatable and fun” ad, but it’s unlikely to get the nation talking.

MAA creative scale: 6