The Latest Poignant Christmas Ad Again Finds Meaning Across Generations

Most of the big Christmas adverts from Britain broke in November. But now that the hubbub has died down, we’re getting holiday fare from other European countries—including the second poignant, intergenerational family saga in as many days. 

Following yesterday’s remarkable four-minute epic from Nordic electronics retailer Elkjøp, we now get J. Walter Thompson Amsterdam’s new spot for PLUS Supermarkets. Though quieter (and shorter) than the Elkjøp piece, there are parallels—including an unspoken connection between family members across generations. 

See the spot here: 

The piece was directed by Ismael ten Heuvel of Pink Rabbit. The track is a cover by British singer Frances of the World Party song “She’s the One,” made popular by Robbie Williams almost 20 years ago. The ad is hardly groundbreaking—in fact, it hews to several formulas made popular in recent years—but the execution raises it to an admirable level. 

“All families have their tales and their traditions. And Christmas is an especially poignant time of the year to explore these stories,” says Bas Korsten, creative partner at J. Walter Thompson Amsterdam. “In this particular case, the hero of our narrative for Plus Supermarkets is that old recipe book – connecting the generations and ensuring that the family recipes will never get lost or forgotten.”

“We are really proud of this new campaign,” adds Esmée Blom, communication manager at Plus Supermarkets. “We strongly believe in the strategy we developed for Plus some three years ago and the way in which we are executing it. We are aiming for the same success as last year’s campaign, which in terms of market share was our best Christmas ever.”

The spot follows last year’s Plus spot for Christmas, which showed a co-parenting family during the holiday season.

CREDITS
J. Walter Thompson Amsterdam
Creative Partner: Bas Korsten
Creative Lead: Chris Sant, Dieuwer Bulthuis
Business Lead: Budi Gonzalez de Chaves
Senior concept producer: Charlene Thomas
Screen producer: Kiek Beljaars

PLUS Supermarkets
Manager Brand & Communication: Okke Wiarda
Marketing Manager: Esmée Blom
Campaign Manager: Marieke Lazeroms

Pink Rabbit
Director: Ismael ten Heuvel
DOP: Martijn van Broekhuizen
Executive Producer: Mireille Lampe & Monique van Beckhoven
Producer: Floor Schroeijers

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MRTN
Editor: Martin Heijgelaar

Online & Special effects
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Justin Baker & Daniël van der Kaaden
Grading: Barry Clarke

Music
Amp.Amsterdam
Music: Frances – She’s The One (original song by Robbie Williams)
Music Supervision: Bart van Liemt, Jarl Hector

Sound:
Studio Alfred Klaassen
Jacco Lenstra