Penny

German store Penny tackles family disharmony in its Christmas ad

While most brands go for festive sparkles in their Christmas ads, Penny tackles the gloomy, but very real, subject of families who are estranged.

Christmas can be a difficult time for many, made worse by the plethora of ads which show happy families celebrating together, full of easy cheer.

We’ve occasionally seen advertisers tackle some of the challenges of Christmas – John Lewis’ Man on the Moon ad in 2015 was one of a number of ads that year that addressed loneliness, for example. This new ad, from German supermarket chain Penny, looks instead at the question of family members who are separated through arguments or conflict, and how hard Christmas can be for them.

Penny
Penny

The spot does have a happy ending (this is advertising after all, not a Sunday night drama), though it avoids cheesiness and does a great job of illustrating visually the emotional challenges that may be faced by those trying to make amends. It is a thoughtful approach to a difficult issue.

Agency: Serviceplan Campaign
Global CCO: Alexander Schill
ECD: Christoph Everke
Creatives: Henrik Pfeiffer, Marie Sophie Legat
Director: Chiara Grabmayr
Production company: Stink