It's one of the staple events on the ad-land calendar: the annual holiday card. But among all the fun and frivolity, this year also produced greetings addressing the growing financial pressure on Canadians—whether it's the cost of a home, or the skyrocketing cost of food. There was still some fun to be had, of course, but no matter the tone or message, this year's holiday greetings are also a celebration of the creativity that can be found inside Canadian agencies all year long.
Here Be Monsters — "Nothing"
This year, Here Be Monsters' clients are getting a whole lot of "Nothing" for Christmas. To raise awareness of the many people going hungry during this period of overindulgence and consumption, the Vancouver agency created a gift box featuring empty jars, bottles, and containers of a brand it created called "Nothing."
“Many of our early insights and ideas were rooted in purpose this year,” said Here Be Monsters' director of client services, Chris Raedcher, “We thought about sustainability, climate change and mental health, but we kept returning to how inflation is pushing up the cost of living. Everyone can relate to importance of food. We believe it’s a right, and yet tens of thousands of Canadians are going hungry.”
Creating a box full of Nothing also enabled Here Be Monsters to make larger donations to local food banks, said creative director Tony Hird. "Fresh fruit, veggies, meat or proteins and a bit of dessert means so much more to a family than a box of overpriced cashews means to marketing director."
Fuse – "Gingerbread House on the Market"
Holiday spirits are being dampened by the rising cost of essentials in Ontario, including home ownership and rent. That’s why Fuse took the opportunity to make a statement about the cost of living, by creating a fake real estate listing for a one-foot square home on Toronto’s popular Ossington strip (where its office is located).
The "home" is actually a gingerbread house, and it's listed for $1,000—the average price of one-square-foot of Toronto real estate. It’s advertised as a unique gem that's perfect for people looking to downsize, young families looking for a starter home, or anyone hoping to break into the city’s real estate market.
Fuse is uses the post to invite viewers to donate to Mainstay Housing, Toronto’s largest non-profit housing agency. The agency also donated $1,000 to the organization.
“Gingerbread houses connote feelings of warmth and comfort—something a lot of people are struggling to find in this city’s housing market,” said Fuse’s creative director, Linda Carte, in a release. “Taking such a well-known holiday symbol and using it to illustrate the reality of 2023 is a stark commentary on where this city and country are struggling. We want to support the innovation that Mainstay Housing is incubating for future homeowners.”
Klick—“The Happiest Holiday Video”
To celebrate the holiday season, Klick Health dug through thousands of Slack messages in a channel dedicated to employee morale, and used the insights to orchestrate some big surprises.
“Klicksters” as the company calls its employees, have been responding to a daily question prompts–like “What is something that you’re looking forward to doing this weekend?” and “If you had a private chef for a night, what would you ask them to prepare?” in a slack channel called #Klick-Happy.
"The Happiest Holiday Video" is a three-minute documentation that takes place in Klick’s New York, Philadelphia, and Toronto offices, as well as people’s home offices on Zoom, as the company informs employees that their Slack responses—going to a Liverpool F.C. match, box seats at a Toronto Raptors game, a private sushi chef—have been brought to life.
“We knew producing the video would involve a ton of coordination, covert operations, and confetti, but it was all worth it,” said chief creative officer Rich Levy in a release. “We hope it makes everyone smile and inspires them to give others happy surprises, too.”
Evolve—"Evolve Office Reintegration Handbook"
This holiday season, Evolve is trying to help employees struggling to adjust to in-office work after spending so much time working from home.
A follow-up to last year's Evolve Holiday Computer Cover, which was aimed at helping employees disconnect, the "Office Reintegration Handbook" is a resource featuring practical advice on everything from choosing the proper footwear, to making small talk with colleagues, and which leftovers can be reheated in the microwave (fish remains a big no-no).
"But for real, we love seeing more of each other’s faces in person, whether in slippers, pyjama pants or four-piece suits, and hope this message starts your holidays with a bit of a chuckle," said the agency in a note to recipients.
Church+State – "Santa Discovers AI"
Church+State likes to use the holiday season as an opportunity to poke fun at what’s most topical in the industry, and this year, that is undoubtedly AI.
In the film, aptly titled “Santa Discovers AI,” Santa Claus is seen sitting at his computer going about the laborious manual task of sorting the naughty and nice list. According to his inbox, he has 4,892,103,671 considerations to make– that is until he comes across an email from a tech agency encouraging him to consider a fictional language model “ChatPTG 3.5” to streamline his workflow.
In the next scene he prompts an AI chatbot, resembling the real ChatGPT, to make him a naughty and nice list for all children in the world based on their 2023 behaviour. The agency uses the moment to humorously acknowledge one of ChatGPT’s shortfalls: that it was previously limited to using data before September 2021. “Well, that’s close enough,” says Santa.
It gets even funnier, highlighting the inaccuracies that result from language models when prompts lack informed, creative direction. Footage of crying, disappointed children take over the screen as a news broadcast explains that kids all over the world are getting gifts that don’t make sense—like a hockey stick with the curve on both ends. As Santa seems to utter the F-word, he’s cut off by the super: “AI is here, some creativity required.”
[videopress DhRdD3UF]
Blackjet– "A Pizza Box That Delivers Good Will"
Blackjet embraced the generosity of the holiday season with a love language that everyone speaks—good food. The Toronto-based agency made a donation to Good Shepherd Ministries, providing 1,000 meals to those in need.
Feeling it made sense to thank their clients in the same way, BlackJet partnered with One Night Only Pizza to deliver pizzas in custom Blackjet-branded boxes to all their clients. To ensure the generosity was carried forward, a secret request was concealed beneath each pizza and revealed only as each slice was enjoyed.
In full form, the message read, “Now that you’ve had a slice, here’s your chance to do something nice!" followed by a large QR code that led participants to donate.
Here Be Monsters — "Nothing"
This year, Here Be Monsters' clients are getting a whole lot of "Nothing" for Christmas. To raise awareness of the many people going hungry during this period of overindulgence and consumption, the Vancouver agency created a gift box featuring empty jars, bottles, and containers of a brand it created called "Nothing."
“Many of our early insights and ideas were rooted in purpose this year,” said Here Be Monsters' director of client services, Chris Raedcher, “We thought about sustainability, climate change and mental health, but we kept returning to how inflation is pushing up the cost of living. Everyone can relate to importance of food. We believe it’s a right, and yet tens of thousands of Canadians are going hungry.”
Creating a box full of Nothing also enabled Here Be Monsters to make larger donations to local food banks, said creative director Tony Hird. "Fresh fruit, veggies, meat or proteins and a bit of dessert means so much more to a family than a box of overpriced cashews means to marketing director."
Fuse – "Gingerbread House on the Market"
Holiday spirits are being dampened by the rising cost of essentials in Ontario, including home ownership and rent. That’s why Fuse took the opportunity to make a statement about the cost of living, by creating a fake real estate listing for a one-foot square home on Toronto’s popular Ossington strip (where its office is located).
The "home" is actually a gingerbread house, and it's listed for $1,000—the average price of one-square-foot of Toronto real estate. It’s advertised as a unique gem that's perfect for people looking to downsize, young families looking for a starter home, or anyone hoping to break into the city’s real estate market.
Fuse is uses the post to invite viewers to donate to Mainstay Housing, Toronto’s largest non-profit housing agency. The agency also donated $1,000 to the organization.
“Gingerbread houses connote feelings of warmth and comfort—something a lot of people are struggling to find in this city’s housing market,” said Fuse’s creative director, Linda Carte, in a release. “Taking such a well-known holiday symbol and using it to illustrate the reality of 2023 is a stark commentary on where this city and country are struggling. We want to support the innovation that Mainstay Housing is incubating for future homeowners.”
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Klick—“The Happiest Holiday Video”
To celebrate the holiday season, Klick Health dug through thousands of Slack messages in a channel dedicated to employee morale, and used the insights to orchestrate some big surprises.
“Klicksters” as the company calls its employees, have been responding to a daily question prompts–like “What is something that you’re looking forward to doing this weekend?” and “If you had a private chef for a night, what would you ask them to prepare?” in a slack channel called #Klick-Happy.
"The Happiest Holiday Video" is a three-minute documentation that takes place in Klick’s New York, Philadelphia, and Toronto offices, as well as people’s home offices on Zoom, as the company informs employees that their Slack responses—going to a Liverpool F.C. match, box seats at a Toronto Raptors game, a private sushi chef—have been brought to life.
“We knew producing the video would involve a ton of coordination, covert operations, and confetti, but it was all worth it,” said chief creative officer Rich Levy in a release. “We hope it makes everyone smile and inspires them to give others happy surprises, too.”
Evolve—"Evolve Office Reintegration Handbook"
This holiday season, Evolve is trying to help employees struggling to adjust to in-office work after spending so much time working from home.
A follow-up to last year's Evolve Holiday Computer Cover, which was aimed at helping employees disconnect, the "Office Reintegration Handbook" is a resource featuring practical advice on everything from choosing the proper footwear, to making small talk with colleagues, and which leftovers can be reheated in the microwave (fish remains a big no-no).
"But for real, we love seeing more of each other’s faces in person, whether in slippers, pyjama pants or four-piece suits, and hope this message starts your holidays with a bit of a chuckle," said the agency in a note to recipients.
Church+State – "Santa Discovers AI"
Church+State likes to use the holiday season as an opportunity to poke fun at what’s most topical in the industry, and this year, that is undoubtedly AI.
In the film, aptly titled “Santa Discovers AI,” Santa Claus is seen sitting at his computer going about the laborious manual task of sorting the naughty and nice list. According to his inbox, he has 4,892,103,671 considerations to make– that is until he comes across an email from a tech agency encouraging him to consider a fictional language model “ChatPTG 3.5” to streamline his workflow.
In the next scene he prompts an AI chatbot, resembling the real ChatGPT, to make him a naughty and nice list for all children in the world based on their 2023 behaviour. The agency uses the moment to humorously acknowledge one of ChatGPT’s shortfalls: that it was previously limited to using data before September 2021. “Well, that’s close enough,” says Santa.
It gets even funnier, highlighting the inaccuracies that result from language models when prompts lack informed, creative direction. Footage of crying, disappointed children take over the screen as a news broadcast explains that kids all over the world are getting gifts that don’t make sense—like a hockey stick with the curve on both ends. As Santa seems to utter the F-word, he’s cut off by the super: “AI is here, some creativity required.”
[videopress DhRdD3UF]
Blackjet– "A Pizza Box That Delivers Good Will"
Blackjet embraced the generosity of the holiday season with a love language that everyone speaks—good food. The Toronto-based agency made a donation to Good Shepherd Ministries, providing 1,000 meals to those in need.
Feeling it made sense to thank their clients in the same way, BlackJet partnered with One Night Only Pizza to deliver pizzas in custom Blackjet-branded boxes to all their clients. To ensure the generosity was carried forward, a secret request was concealed beneath each pizza and revealed only as each slice was enjoyed.
In full form, the message read, “Now that you’ve had a slice, here’s your chance to do something nice!" followed by a large QR code that led participants to donate.
