The Americans are coming to save Christmas in ALDI’s newly launched campaign via BMF Sydney
Every December, Aussies are force-fed cheesy American white Christmas movies; they sing carols about sleighbells and snow, and don Santa’s red jacket, white beard and big black boots, even though the mercury is sliding up to 40 degrees. And if that’s not enough, people from the North who have settled in Australia, constantly whinge that Christmas Down Under doesn’t feel like ‘real’ Christmas. Bah Humbug.
This year ALDI’s Christmas campaign via BMF Sydney, features the Tinkletons – a family of super enthusiastic Americans who are convinced that their Christmas is better than ours. And they have come to Australia to prove it.
Not only are the Tinkletons up against the perfect Aussie weather, backyard barbies and days at the beach, they’re also battling ALDI’s luxury range of delicious tiger prawns, garlic butter lobster tails, half leg hams, fudge and much, much more.
Says Alex Derwin, CD, BMF: “To an outsider, an Aussie Christmas feels weird and wrong, but when you get used to the sunburn and speedos you realize just how special it is. It’s an insight we’ve used before, but this year we’ve put it on steroids. The Tinkletons are a device that allow us to show the ‘Perfect Aussie Christmas’ through a new lens. An all-singing and dancing, theatrical new lens.”
Says Steve McArdle, MD, BMF: “When the team presented an idea for Christmas (in April) that was best described as Glee meets The Griswalds, yet unmistakably ‘ALDI’, I thought Christmas had come early – which of course it had. Our thanks to the client, yet again, for demanding something that nobody else would make.”
Says Sam Viney, marketing director, ALDI: “By offering quality Christmas products such as prawns, hams and pavlovas, at prices that everyone can afford, ALDI is uniquely placed to celebrate everything that’s great about Australian Christmas. And what better way to dramatise this by throwing a fish-out-of-water Northern Hemisphere family into the mix… If they can be converted, who can argue with the fact that ‘Nothing beats the perfect Aussie Christmas’?”
The campaign launched with a combination of long form and series of retail TV ads and is supported by social content, print, radio, display advertising, OOH, POS, ALDI catalogues and www.aldi.com.au/christmas.
Agency: BMF
Executive Creative Director: Cam Blackley
Creative Director: Alex Derwin
Creative Team: Hans Christian Berents, Gooch Richards, Rosita Rawnsley-Mason, Lucy Chappell and Ben Pearce
Designer: Matthew Hughes
Head of Planning: Hugh Munro
Managing Director: Stephen McArdle
Group Account Director: Toby Hussey
Senior Account Directors: Aisling Colley, Peitra Withaar
Account Executive: Kellie Box
Agency Producer: Jenny Lee-Archer
Executive Planning Director: Christina Aventi
Production Company: Finch
Director: Nick Ball
Producer: Camilla Mazzaferro
MD/EP: Corey Esse
Production Designer: Neville Stevenson
Production Manager: Amanda Yu
Post Production and VFX: Drew Downes at The Refinery
Editor: Jack Hutchings at The Butchery
Music and Sound Production: Rumble Studios
Sound design: Rumble Studios
DoP: Lachlan Milne
Art Buyer: Basir Salleh
Photographer: Gavin Johns
Media: Maxus
Client:
Marketing Director: Sam Viney
Marketing Manager: Kylie Warnke
Marketing Assistant: Katherine Franulovich
51 Comments
The cliché gay acting is offensive and irresponsible. There is enough bullying toward homosexual men/boys in Australia as it is without working that into a christmas commercial.
Christmas Hammy
I applaud them for doing something different but this misses the mark for me. The idea’s not very clear and feels like it’s weird for the sake of being weird. It’ll definitely cut through though.
Is 75secs even a thing? Does it need to be labelled like that when that deliverable doesn’t exist?
Oh- and the spot itself is pretty good.
Really fun ad. Love it (but still hate Christmas).
Just Awesome. Ha ha ha ha ha.
Gold
Tinkletons for President. Love it
This is catchy. And really good fun. Good work.
Happy morning!!!
Weird for the sake of being weird. Which makes it forced. Immature. Lame.
Love it. Aldi ups the game for everyone on Aussie Christmas ads. Ye ha!
You’ve forgot what entertainment looks like. Thank gosh we are doing entertaining ads Meanwhile you’re creating emotional, relatable ads that snore me into a coma
Saw this on the telly yesterday and laughed out loud. Funny stuff. Well done to everyone involved.
So Nick Ball is running the Aussie Christmas show this year. Good.
@homophobic
What the hell are you talking about?
On another note.
I hate xmas ads but these are good.
Well done Freida. X
Easily the most entertaining xmas commercial so far. The shorter ones are frickin hilarious too.
Entertaining, funny & catchy. Very good.
Old CD Guy is surprised that nobody has pointed out the vastly different standard between this spot and the woefully amatuerish talking bread/mushroom/washing powder spots for Aldi which were PRd on here last week.
Of course you can nitpick about elements of this Xmas spot, as some on here already have, but it’s very well produced and entertaining.
If I were CD of BMF – or one of the partners, or the client – I’d be concerned about the inconsistent standard of the work on this account. (Oh alright, it has a talking moose.)
I was convinced it came from a different agency in a different country.
Perhaps Derwin can explain.
Kicked it out of the ballpark. Great work BMF.
I don’t know if I have lost my sense of humour but i just didn’t laugh.I wanted to because I have loved and laughed out loud at a lot of Aldi spots ,but this one uh uh.
It was just kind of chaotic and to be honest a bit corny.
Same reaction from my two house mates. Dunno maybe we aren’t the target audience.
Nice one BMF. Happy Christmas!
These are bloody great. 60sec is total pandemonium, but in a good way, the 15secs are some of the best product ads I have seen in a long time, and the radio is just so good. Great campaign.
“Weird for the sake of being weird. Which makes it forced. Immature. Lame.”
So we should all do unforced, mature, sensible, serious work at your shitty agency?
When was the last time you took a crap?
Sounds like Old CD Guy already knows the answer to this?
Perhaps Old CD Guy would care to explain?
i saw this on tv sunday night, and i liked it. well done to all involved, and that bloody great client you guys have.
Pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty good.
Good innit
Feels like an agency, director and client perfect mix. Such great work. Fuck you guys.
Please you are a German supermarket chain.Stop trying to be Australian.
Or even worse ‘Aussie’!
Killed it. TV is stylish and lovely to watch and that radio is really funny.
This and the last lamb ad are the only world class funny bits of film to come out of Oz this year (that’s counting the boys as last year).
If this is the best work coming out of Australia at the moment, it’s a bit bloody scary.
I concur with the above comment from Cate.
When you dial everything up to comedic hilarity of this commercial it actually does the opposite. What am I meant to be focusing on and laughing at?
I’ve been on sets like this in the past. I can see the agency thinking this is hilarious on the day and how it came together in the edit.
Everyone laughing because the performances are OTT. Silly outfits like the massive xmas sweater. Funny faces. Dodgy reindeer at the window. But come on guys, the speedo gag reaction shot? Seriously? Unfortunately it is homophobic because its a cheap gag. So don’t get defensive when people call it out for what it is.
This is lacking craft. Obvious choices are not craft.
The amount of money that was spent on this idea and execution is a sad reflection of what is considered quality work in this country.
Please note, I’ve articulated problems I have with this type of work in an attempt to be constructive.
I’m in no way affiliated with this ad. I laughed out loud when I saw it. As a matter of fact lots of people in my office did. You guys sound mad jelly. Stop being h8rs yo!
Most people out there in the real world will hate this campaign for the sheer fact its just try hard attempts at comedy, hammed up and yelled at you annoyingly by a bunch of obnoxious Americans. Talk it up all you like if you have a vested interest but its excruciating to watch.
Cate’s right. Why should we have any fun?
Christmas is a serious time of year, especially for the advertising industry.
It’s a time to turn our creative minds to writing disparaging remarks and critiquing other people’s work, so we can all start the new year with renewed cynicism.
So none of you can remember the Folger’s Happy Morning ad from 2006?
Hats off! And as a friend of mine used to say years ago… pants off too. Definitely funny. Just saw it on TV. So fairly close to a real person’s POV and it made me laugh. Bonus points to BMF since all things USA are top of mind right now. Well done client and agency. Much, much, much better than that woeful new beer ad…
And for heaven’s sake please transplant Aldi’s spirit into the rest of the dead head don’t take any risks marketers out there.
I might be wrong, but isn’t the idea of this commercial to play on the stereotypes you listed to show the difference between the weird American’s Christmas versus the Australian’s. So yes, obvious choices are, well, obvious. And as a gay man, I do get defensive when someone else tries to tell me what’s homophobic. It’s camp and theatrical, so please don’t speak for me.
Fun ad Aldi. Well done.
Are you OK, Cate 2? Who hurt you?
The real loser here is American Christmas weirdos.
Poor little bunchbottoms. Caught some sand, just not in the right place.
Well, I’m glad I’m still breathing after being feed that garbage
Like you Cate2 I am a gay man.Unlike young am not happy.I thought this type of ‘homo humour’ died With Benny Hill decades ago.Stereocamping at its worst.
This is the TVC equivalent of “I know a song that will get on your nerves, get on your nerves, get on your nerves”.
Did no one stop to think, at any point, is this going to be annoying?
More work like this in Australia please. Sure, some slightly camp performances here and there, but at least this client has some guts to show something that’s funny, will cut through, and get attention. It has an idea, and is well done too. Hats off guys.
Agreed- like it or hate it – it will cut through the noise.
Aldi seem to be the only client brave enough to make something bold.
In an ocean of bland- it has something noticeable.
Even if there are aspects of craft you would have done differently (Cate2, i’m looking at you because your comment was especially naive) it’s clearly intended to be the antithesis of every sappy, cliched, John-Lewis-wannabe nonsense that most clients ask for today. It’s camp… it’s over the top… it’s like a christmas pantomime!
And who wouldn’t prefer an xmas pantomime over the banal corporate nonsense that Woolies and Coles will soon trot out (watch this space… it’s coming real soon)
Americans singing in high pitched obnoxious voices is annoying in real life and so it is true of this tvc. I don’t understand how people can miss the obvious but when you get a group of people in the room in corporate creative agencies and companies we have all seen how the honest feedback gets kicked to the curb.
However for that reason the ad will probably cut through like hell. But I can’t imagine anyone wanting to keep watching to get to the punchline (which there isn’t really). Unlike surfing santas that was fun and endearing and you wanted to watch through every time it appeared. I’ll be changing channel as soon as I hear this. Reckon so will most people.
It is ashame that the team couldn’t write from a positive place like surfing santas, and had to ridicule others. Low emotional IQ approach. But guess that worked for Trump so maybe the yanks get what they deserve.
This ad was fun once.
However, every ad break hearing an obnoxious fake american shout “You don’t wear that at Christmas” is already annoying. Putting up with it until Christmas is going to not make me an Aldi fan.
The ad feels like it started in a good place but by the end everyone was too busy fondling each other to realise they’d pushed it too far.
Idea is awesome. Execution, not so much.