BBH's Holiday Gifts for Flaviar Aren't as 'Half-Assed' as They Seem

Imagine how you’d feel at a holiday party, or sitting beneath the tree on Christmas morning, eagerly tearing apart festive wrapping-paper to reveal…

A “World’s Best #1” coffee mug, snowman tie, reindeer slippers or “Seasons Greetings” socks. “Damn this tacky crap to the bowels of hell!” you might cry.

Well, that’s some colorful choice of words. But dude, look closer. If the presents are from Flaviar’s “Half-Assed Holiday Collection,” then they’re really not so bad. Each includes a $300 annual membership code covering premium selections and sampling boxes from the spirits-tasting club. 

You can enjoy the wines and whiskey, but regift the mug or socks to your dopey cousin. 

BBH New York developed the deceptive merch, along with the punchy promo clips below. They promise that “Bad taste never tasted so good,” and feature actress Gina Duval—a clear favorite for the best-yuletide-commercial-performance-in-a-shiny-gown award: 

What, no warm ugly sweater because your friends say so?

“We concluded that guys, in particular, are really tough to shop for, and people tend to half-ass it by giving a lame gift instead of something that they would really want,” BBH creative director Scott Cooney tells Muse. “So, we thought we’d make some of our own half-assed gifts, creating a fun holiday misdirect by turning them into something guys will actually love. Plus, it’s something people can actually box and wrap up, instead of just giving a card with a code.” 

Available on Flaviar’s website, the gifts will also grace a kitschy pop-up store at New York City’s Bryant Park on Dec. 6.

“We basically had to unlearn every design rule we ever learned” and ensure the items looked especially cliched and mundane, Cooney says. “When we sent the designs to our vendors to create the gifts, they kept sending us the files back, telling us we’d made a mistake and trying to fix them. We had to tell them to print them exactly as is.” 

CREDITS

BBH New York
Chief Creative Officer: Gerard Caputo
Creative Director: Diego Fonseca
Creative Director: Scott Cooney
Senior Art Director: Mussashi Shintaku
Associate Art Director: Camille Sudekum
Design Director: David Trumpf
Designer: Elijah Ervin
Head of Production: Brooke Kaylor
Content Producer: Marc Baill
Executive Producer: Lauren Fertitta

Director of Business Affairs: Librado Sanchez
Managing Director: Brett Edgar
Account Supervisor: Lucie Kittel
Account Manager: Cris Flores
Account Director: Julia Brenton
Project Manager: Adam Taverniti
Strategist: Adam Taverniti

Production & Post
Production Company: Black Sheep Studios NY
Director: Drew Lightfoot
Director of Photography: Zach Jopling
Supervising Producer: Marc Baill
Production Manager: Jake Sharpless
Production Designer: Kit Sheridan
Casting By: Lisa Rubenstein
Stills Photographer: Brian Truncali
Director of Operations, Print: John Connolly
Lead Retoucher: Brian Truncali
Retoucher: Sam Wallander
Stills Assistant: Mace Vannoni

Editor: Jim Schwartz
Assistant Editor: Ryan Wentz
Motion Designer: Roman Micevic
Record & Mix: Kevin Hastings
Original Score: Lonnie Jordan

Color By: Irving Harvey
Colorist: Matthew Greenberg
Color Assistant: Kevin Ratigan
Finishing Producer: Samuel Gursky
Finishing Producer: Kerry Mack