Inside the Most Grinchly Campaign of the Season

How Asda and Lucky Generals rolled green for the holidays

The idea for Asda’s “Grinch” campaign began with a simple truth: everyone’s feeling the pinch right now. Christmas—a season we love, but loaded with financial pressure—only amplifies that.

We wanted to acknowledge that reality but also remind people that the magic of Christmas doesn’t have to come with a hefty price tag. That idea led us to a single creative shorthand: make the season feel festive and affordable, not fraught, and let a well-known, much-loved character do the heavy emotional lifting.

Asda has always been synonymous with great value and convenience: everything you need, all under one roof. So, the campaign was built around that optimism. Even if you’re feeling a bit Grinchy about Christmas, Asda can turn things around. You can still have a brilliant festive season—one you can actually afford. That’s where our line came from: “That’s prices no one can be a Grinch about.”

When we started exploring potential Christmas characters, we realized many of the usual suspects—Father Christmas, elves, reindeer—had been done to death. The Grinch, however, felt like a perfect fit. His story, from cynical to joyful, mirrors exactly what we wanted to express emotionally.

And visually, the synergy was irresistible: Asda green meets Grinch green.

We wanted to show the Grinch not just as a caricature, but as part of a family—still mischievous, still himself, but with real warmth. We used in-camera prosthetics and practical effects, working closely with top costume and prosthetic designers to nail every detail—the fur texture, the skin tone, even the subtleties of expression.

Every element was approved by Dr. Seuss Enterprises. Their San Diego team signed off on facial planes and silhouette, while letting us land a theatrical, slightly heightened Britain where aisles acted as a stage.

The lead actor sat in the makeup chair for roughly four hours a day while the prosthetics house ran iterative sculpt tests to preserve micro‑expression. Apart from a micro VFX tweak on the lips, almost everything was done in camera. Sculpt tests in the prosthetics house: dozens of iterations to find the right pistachio green and eyes that read human on close‑up.

The hardest puzzle was expressiveness. Prosthetics can lock a face, and a frozen Grinch is a dead Grinch—not exactly festive. We ran endless performance tests so the actor could learn micro‑expressions under layers of latex. The prosthetics team resculpted to allow for cheek lifts and tiny smiles. Ultimatelty, the Grinch could soften without ever losing his character.

To elevate the storytelling, we felt it needed more than just sharp dialogue—it needed music. Christmas and music go hand in hand, so we took the classic “Let It Snow” and gave it a cheeky twist to fit the Asda spirit. The result was a festive singalong with a wry smile—something people could hum and remember.

For direction, we wanted someone who truly understands British humor and emotion but also brings cinematic warmth. Dexter Fletcher was a natural choice. His work on Rocketman and Sunshine on Leith has that heartfelt, musical sensibility we were after. Our first call with Dexter was memorable—he phoned from Madagascar with lemurs in the background—and that offbeat streak became part of the set’s improvisational energy. Many of the expressions captured on the children’s faces were because of Dexter hiding Freddos and tiny hats which sparked real reactions from children—unscripted moments the editors kept.

Dexter brought enormous energy to the project—and even assembled a dream team, including Giles Martin (son of legendary Beatles producer George Martin) to rework “Let It Snow.”

The collaboration between Dexter and Giles gave the campaign an emotional rhythm—balancing comedy, nostalgia and that unmistakable festive feel-good factor. You could guarantee that someone, somewhere, would be whistling the tune, even in the loos.

Ultimately, this campaign is about more than just price. It’s about joy. It’s about reminding people that, even when times are tough, Christmas can still be magical.

And that’s something not even the Grinch can deny.