Sainsbury’s Christmas Ad Is a Charming Tale of Calamity About Judith Kerr’s ‘Mog’
Sainsbury’s has unveiled a heart-warming new advertising campaign featuring one of the nation’s best loved children’s book characters, Judith Kerr’s Mog, to highlight the importance of sharing at Christmas. Developed in partnership with Judith’s publishers Harper Collins Children’s Books, and titled ‘Mog’s Christmas Calamity’, the full length 3’30” TV advert will air for the first time on Thursday 12th November across multiple channels including ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5 and Sky simultaneously at 7.15pm. The campaign will also help raise funds for Save the Children to improve child literacy across the UK.
Sainsbury’s advertising agency AMV BBDO worked with director James Rouse and Framestore, of Paddington fame, to bring Mog and her world to life in her first-ever animated foray. Sainsbury’s and HarperCollins co-produced the film, which was created in collaboration with Judith Kerr herself, who also makes a cameo appearance in the film. Oscar-winning Rachel Portman composed the original score that underpins the spectacular.
The new advert is a charming tale of a sequence of highly improbable and entertaining events that befall the iconic and calamity-prone Mog in the early hours of Christmas morning, before the family are awake.
In the midst of the chaos, however, Mog succeeds in contacting the fire station which kick-starts the rescue mission to save Christmas Day. In the aftermath of the smoke filled calamity and following a visit from the fire chief and his brigade, the Thomas family turn to see all their neighbours standing in the doorway, armed with mops and brooms for the clean-up, as well as delicious festive food, drinks and decorations. Everyone comes together to celebrate the Christmas festivities - after all, Christmas is for sharing.
Adrian Rossi and Alex Grieve, Executive Creative Directors at AMV BBDO said: ” Working with Sainsbury’s to deliver a Christmas advertising campaign that resonates with their customers but which is distinct and standout from their competitors is an annual challenge that requires real passion and creativity from our team. Christmas is For Sharing is a simple and powerful message and this year we’ve been able to communicate that in a way that is new and relevant. The fact that we’ve been able to use the ad to generate funds to support Save the Children’s work to improve child literacy in the UK is an added bonus.”
“A true passion project from the start, Framestore are extremely proud to have worked on such an iconic creature, re-imagining Judith Kerr’s illustrations for the screen in a unique way. Ourcreative journey alongside director James Rouse, publisher HarperCollins and Judith herself took Mog from early concept to fully actualised character. Being able to work with a much-loved character like Mog has been a real joy for us”, says Heather Kinal, Senior Producer at Framestore.
Sainsbury’s approached Judith Kerr and her publisher HarperCollins, developing the concept for the story together, with Judith writing and illustrating a new Mog book, to be exclusively sold in Sainsbury’s to complement the story told in the campaign. The campaign is designed to entertain children and families across the UK, as well as raising funds to improve children’s literacy, with the book on sale in Sainsbury’s stores for £3, alongside a specially created Mog soft toy for £10. Judith Kerr, HarperCollins and Sainsbury’s will donate all profits from the book and toy to Save the Children to support their literacy work, making a positive and lasting difference to children in the UK.
