After more than a year of living with the (fear of) Covid-19 virus, and its recommendations for isolation and quarantine, this year’s Christmas holds the expectation of a reunion between family and friends. Meetings that, in 2020, did not happen due to the pandemic and the absence, until then, of an immunizing agent. And it is the reunions, scheduled for this Friday (24th) night, that inspired a good part of the 2021 Christmas campaigns.
O Boticário, for example, was inspired by the classic ‘O Pequeno Príncipe’ to guide its communication and sheds light on reconnection through olfactory memory. The concept of the movie “Little Princess” takes as its starting point the pandemic context and the post-pandemic future to highlight messages of optimism and hope.
“After two years of challenges, including irreparable losses for thousands of Brazilians, we want to restore the smells of life in this moment of reunion and reconnection with family and friends and deposit a little hope,” said Renata Gomide, marketing director for Grupo Boticário .
The Pão de Açúcar also celebrated the reunion, which explored the theme with the affective memory that family dishes and recipes provide on the date. The “Christmas Tales” campaign, created by BETC Havas, shows that true stories become Christmas tales, like a grandson who surprises his family by making his grandmother’s recipe for supper.
“The last two years have been very difficult and we know that we are not yet at the end of the pandemic, but this Christmas will already be a little different and much more exciting, with some reunions of family and friends”, explained Camila Assis, marketing manager for the Sugar Loaf.
In its global campaign, Coca-Cola contemplated some action fronts that reinforce the concept that the magic of Christmas happens when people are together. And, in Brazil, the brand launched its Coral de Natal, with classic music from the Coca-Cola Caravan era.
Signed by WMcCann and developed in partnership with Globo, the action brought artists and influencers responsible for passing on the message to the public, inviting people to participate in the choir.
Bradesco, in turn, also spoke of reunions to the sound of ‘Halo’, by Beyoncé. The film, which features the already famous fireflies, addressed human connections and reconnections at a time when people spend a lot of time immersed in the screens of cell phones, video games and TVs, individually and almost indifferent to what happens in their surroundings .
Natura’s bet for this year was the animation ‘Afeto Enferrujado’, which refers to the loss of the practice of giving and receiving affection after so long and invites everyone to feel Christmas again. Signed by Africa, the campaign shows a tin doll that notices that her embrace is rusty, but that awakens her memory and the desire to find her grandmother again when she smells the brand’s fragrance.
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In addition to talking about reunions, many brands and agencies brought Christmas 2021 to a more Brazilian reality. Guaraná Antarctica, like the 2020 campaign starring Paula Fernandes, used Brazilianness in a special on Globoplay Marathon.
‘Christmas Farofadas’ shows, in a fun way, the family together, a secret friend’s game, a supper put on the table with doses of confusion and old jokes.
Another example was Quem Said, Berenice? and Porta dos Fundos, who got together to talk about Christmas traditions, as part of the ‘Natal 40 Graus’ campaign. In the film, the family gets together to intervene in the Christmas celebration that cousin Joana celebrates every year, with wool sweaters, hot drinks and Jingle Bells. In the place, however, come coolers with cold beer, barbecue and pagoda in the sound box.
And since the subject is barbecue…
Marfrig bet on the ‘Barbecue until Christmas’, which sought to unite one of the Brazilian’s passions and the main family celebration of the year. “With a lot of flavor and responsibility, we want to show this special reunion, together with the indispensable Christmas barbecue. Every family is unique, and we want to be present in each one of them through what we do best”, said marketing director Leonardo Pereira.
Imaginarium, on the other hand, invited Zeca Pagodinho to be the poster boy for a Brazilian-style collection, which seeks to celebrate the peculiarities that Brazilians have when celebrating Christmas: everyone is more at ease, in shorts, a shirt and a cold drink.