Ah, holiday advertising. I never look forward to it, mainly because it’s in my face before I’ve even put the finishing touches on my Halloween costume. Also, it’s usually terrible. It was once again a challenge to find this year’s diamonds in the rough. But there were a few pieces, among all the stereotypical jingle-belling and sentimental gift-giving, that caught my eye on TV and around the Web.
HONDA
Honda promotes its annual “Happy Honda Days” sale without the typical holiday fanfare. Just a guy and some very well-written scripts.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tBHUkJPBHgY
OXFAM
I hadn’t heard of OxfamGifts.com until I saw this video. It urges people to scrap giving gifts that will only end up in the trash and instead give gifts that will do some good around the world. Fabulous idea I plan on tapping for some last-minute shopping.
BEST BUY
This effort for Best Buy Canada had users “passing” gifts to one another on Facebook. Long story short: tons of prizes were “hidden” in the gifts’ wrapping. Users could open a gift and if they didn’t find anything, pass it on to a friend. The passing continued until the prizes were finally unwrapped. Even if you didn’t unwrap a gift, all was not lost–if one of your friends was the big winner, you would also be rewarded.
HEINEKEN
Heineken had a great idea for a social campaign to promote its novelty “BeerTender” gift, rather than simply advertise it. This video explains how it works better than I could, so watch:
HYUNDAI
Ok. An adorable kid belting out “Feliz Navidad”? Honestly, I have no idea what they’re advertising, but this just made me swoon.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qAe2xaOUuSU
So, those are a few of my faves (aside from our own efforts of course, like the successful Share a Carol for Marshalls). If you have a favorite holiday campaign that I missed, leave it in the comments section. Happy Holidays!
