Sainsbury’s multi-award winning Christmas in a Day campaign was the unexpected winner of Christmas 2013. A year on, we challenged ourselves not just to follow that, but to do something completely different.
Sainsbury’s belief is that ‘Christmas is for sharing.’ For most peoples it’s about family and friends – eating, drinking and being together. More than any other time of year, we share special moments with each other.
The campaign dramatizes that belief through a genuine story that captures the real spirit of Christmas.
One hundred years ago, during the early months of the First World War, something extraordinary took place. On December 25th, 1914, the guns fell silent as unofficial truces broke out along the Western Front, enemies met as friends.
The work commemorates the Christmas truce but also celebrates and continues Sainsbury’s twenty year partnership with The Royal British Legion. Sainsbury’s sold the chocolate bar featured in the ad in every one of their stores with all profits providing much needed funds for the charity.
The ad launched on 12th December sparking 15,732 tweets in the first 24 hours. At time of printing it has been viewed 16,963,317 times on YouTube and has sparked hundreds of newspaper articles, and broadcast coverage.
A documentary looking at the real story of the Christmas truce accompanies the film on YouTube and there was significant campaign focussed on Sainsbury’s Christmas food which ran alongside.