Plenty Paper Towels Made Perhaps the Grodiest Christmas Ad Yet

The kitchen floor’s slick with gravy and turkey bits, your cat’s got tinsel stuck to its butt—and as for Fido, well, the little furball just deposited a “present” beneath the tree.

Luckily, Plenty brand paper towels are on hand to help clean up such mishaps in this amusing “Xmess” video from AMV BBDO London and Somesuch x Revolver director Steve Rogers:

The baby vomited. How adorable!
 
Driven by Nazareth’s “Love Hurts”—overly familiar, but appropriate here—”Xmess” offers an unexpected take on the holiday season, which has generated a diverse batch of commercials, ranging from cozy to epic, plus tearjerkers (big surprise) and meditations on life’s pandemic pause, among others. (It’s worth noting that Kruger and Broken Heart Love Affair made a similar mess over the summer, but Plenty earns special props for taking a spill at Christmas.)

“Plenty is the first brand adopting a radical honesty where life with our loved ones is depicted the way it really is: messy, occasionally yucky, and sometimes downright revolting,” says Martina Poulopati, global marketing director at Plenty parent Essity. “But that’s what real love is: when you invite people into your life, you accept the collateral damage.”

The feline gag stems from yuletide memes, “Removing tinsel stuck to a cat’s bottom is very common,” AMV BBDO deputy executive creative director Toby Allen tells Muse. “Google it. It’s a Christmas miracle!”

The team enjoyed crafting a high-profile year-end commercial designed “to get debated and shared,” Allen says. “We liked the challenge of competing in that arena and making the brand famous. And doing it in a way no one else would or could, with a version of Christmas we can’t unsee. Despite the potential for Christmas to look a little bit different this year, we wanted the film to serve as a light-hearted reminder of the mess that happens when we are able to get together.”

“Some people see the ad as a metaphor for the 2020 shitshow,” he adds, “but most see it as a much-needed escape from it all.”

CREDITS

Project: Plenty/Okay: Xmess Campaign

Creative Agency: AMV BBDO
Executive Creative Directors: Nicholas Hulley, Nadja Lossgott
Creative Director: Toby Allen & Jim Hilson
Copywriter: Dan Warner & Prabhu Wignarajah
Art Director: Jamie Starbuck & Andy Vasey
Agency Planner: Margaux Revol
Agency Account Team: Sara Abaza, Harry Buggé, Terrance Obeng
Agency Producer: Edwina Dennison
Media Agency: Zenith Media
Media Planners: Anna Shaw, Nicola Gow

Production Company: Somesuch x Revolver
Director: Steve Rogers
DOP: Simon Duggan
Photographer: Derek Henderson
Art Producer: Fiona Bailey
Design & Typography: Max Henderson
Production Co. Producer: Caroline Kruck, Seth Wilson, Lee Groombridge
Post-production Company: Time Based Arts
Business Affairs: Michelle Holmes, Cate Killeen
Audio Post-production: Sam Ashwell @ 750mph
Editor: Rich Orrick, Jamie Hodgson @ Work Editorial
PR (UK): Hannah Craig, Senior Account Director, FINN Comms (UK)
PR (Global): Olivia Sealy, Ketchum (Global)

Essity global:
Martina Poulopati, Global Marketing & Communications Director
Julia Safanova, Global Brand Communication Manager

Essity UK:
Nicola Coronado, Marketing Director UK, Ireland
Iain Lavelle, Marketing Manager (Plenty Brand)
Leanne McLeod – Brand Manager (Plenty)

Essity France:
Jennifer Diaz, Marketing Manager
Arnaud Montcru, European Marketing Director, Household Towels
Alix Arnaud – Web / Digital Content Manager
Juan Pava, Brand Manager