A complete 180 from this infamous Apple ad, wouldn’t you say, flesh-and-blood readers?

The work, running during the upcoming Paris Olympics, is part of a bigger brand message, one that puts creativity first by highlighting people and the businesses developing unique, small-batch items found on Etsy. Social media clips, coupled with jumbo billboards in NYC and London, feature the faces behind Etsy shops and tell their stories.

“In an increasingly automated world, Etsy stands for something different,” says David Kolbusz, CCO of Orchard, which created the spot. “Their sellers aren’t just filling orders, they’re conjuring magic from their fingertips and channeling their talents into the creation of objects you can touch and keep.”

“Our film isn’t anti-tech, it’s pro-human. It’s a reminder that the things that arrive on your doorstep can come from someplace more meaningful than a fulfillment center.”

“For the launch of Etsy’s new Gift Mode tech, we wanted to create something special for the big game,” says David Kolbusz, CCO of Orchard, the agency behind the spot. “We wrote a lot of showy scripts—some stunty, others littered with celebrities—but in the end, classic storytelling and a good joke won the day.”

The brand recently tapped Drew Barrymore as the company’s first chief gifting officer. (Also, Patrick Stewart warns her to “pipe down” in Paramount+’s Big Game ad. She wasn’t talking about Etsy, though.)

Watch a :45 version of the Super Bowl ad below:

Click here to watch all of this year’s Super Bowl commercials as they’re released. 

Next, when a dad tells his daughter he doesn’t want more “stuff,” she finds a log carrier on Etsy that serves an important purpose. Mission accomplished:

Below, a young woman gifts her extra-tall, foodie boyfriend with a very special apron:

Finally, how does an uncle related to his 6-year-old niece? Learn the answer and hum along:

“Our ECD Jimm Lasser was talking to his wife Hannah about our campaign and she mentioned in passing that every time she goes on Etsy it’s like a little mission,” says David Kolbusz, CCO of Orchard. “This was a succinct way of trying to articulate the feeling of gift shopping.”

The ads are running on broadcast and digital in the U.S. and U.K. The songs were all scripted, with wiggle room for revisions.

“Pretty much everything we did for weeks after the shoot, through the whole edit process, was soundtracked to the Mission: Impossible theme,” Kolbusz tells Muse. “Once you get into the habit it’s a tough one to break.”

CREDITS

Agency: Orchard Creative
Chief Strategy Officer: Laura Janness
Chief Executive Officer: Barney Robinson
Chief Creative Officer: David Kolbusz
Executive Creative Director: Jimm Lasser
Creative Director: Heather Larimer
Creative Director: Devon Hong
Creative Director: Conor Dooley
Senior Art Director: Perry Morton
Copywriter: Grady Linnihan
Head of Strategy: Sarah Garman
Strategy Director: Albert Opraseuth
Head of Production: Jenn Pennington
Account Director: Hayley Howell
Account Supervisor: Becky Tanner

Production
Director: Steve Rogers
Production Company: Biscuit Filmworks
Managing Director US: Shawn Lacy
Managing Director UK: Rupert Reynolds-Maclean
Executive Producer: Holly Vega
Head of Production US: Sean Moody
Head of Production UK: Sara Cummins
Producer: Jay Veal
Director’s Assistant: James Murray
Production Manager: Esther Rich
Director of Photography: Daniel Landin
Production Designer: Daniel Taylor
Editorial/Post production: Cut+Run
Managing Partner: Lauren Hertzberg
Executive Producer: Ellese Shell
Post Producer: Brooke Rhoden
Editor: Jonnie Scarlett
Sr. Cutting Asst.: James Donahue
Junior Asst Editor: Eric Estevez
Editor- Cyber: Jen Dean
Asst. Editor- Cyber: Evan Bahnsen

VFX/ Finishing: Yours truly, KEVIN
Music/Sound Design/mix: Heavy Duty NYC

Always up for yuletide tearjerkers, Etsy delivers some serious feels in “Give More Than a Gift,” its holiday campaign that launched this week in markets worldwide.

72andSunny collaborated with MJZ directors Will Hoffman and Julius Metoyer on four spots. You might not make it through any of the ads without breaking down. First, we have “Bus Stop,” a wintry tale of cross-generational, multicultural connection:

“The insight originated from the backdrop of the growing anti-Asian sentiment, and in turn the anxiety that was felt by the community around seemingly everyday activities like walking home,” agency creative director Alyssa Georg tells Muse. “As the story developed, it became universally resonant of an unlikely friendship, and the unexpected kindness of strangers.”

Georg says the efforts of one 72andSunny team member “to keep her family culture alive as it starts to diffuse from one generation to the next” inspired the mother-daughter scenario in “The Recipe” below:

In each tale, Etsy gifts serve as symbols of affection and kinship. But the branding—perhaps more important than usual in a season bedeviled by supply-chain issues—never feels forced, nor does it undercut the consistently strong storytelling.

A third spot, “Our Santa,” was born from “a conversation with a team member who shared that their family would travel far and wide to find and buy Black Santa decorations during the holiday season,” Georg says. “Etsy strives to be a truly inclusive place where you can really make the holidays your own.”

Lastly, in “The Tradition,” running exclusively in the U.K., neighbors dispel loneliness and bond over a chilly Christmas swim. (The cast took the icy plunge in repeated takes to get the shot just right.)

Many retailers play on emotions to stoke sales at this time of year, but the approach feels especially authentic for Etsy. Its customized, bespoke, handmade items can convey deeper meaning than mass-produced products, and these ads do a fine job of conveying that message.

“After the last two years [of Covid struggles], we wanted to tell stories that show the kindness in people,” Georg says. “Sorry if we make you cry with these! We definitely shed tears on set while filming … but they were happy tears.”

CREDITS

Brand: Etsy
Creative Agency: 72andSunny New York
Director: Hoffman/Metoyer
Production Company: MJZ
Editorial: Whitehouse Editorial
Editors: Lizzy Graham and Matthew Wood
Music: Alexander Wolf David

And “Shiori” is about the frustration of having a name that people struggle with … especially when you have to repeat it through a mask or via Zoom.

“New Guy” is about being the new Serious Love Interest in a family gathering. Frankly, we’re surprised it wasn’t about the anxiety of being in a house full of people (including the elderly!) who don’t seem worried about close proximity, as infection rates continue to climb. This ad feels like a strange refugee from The Time Before.

In each spot, some measure of the emotional turbulence is eased with a custom gift from Etsy. These moments aren’t over-the-top, and don’t promise to be panaceas—a stuffed grandson for Nana is far inferior to the human model, we imagine, and Shiori’s name won’t be easier for others to pronounce just because they can read from her neck. But there’s comfort in the idea that your feelings were anticipated and acknowledged in a deeply personal way, as demonstrated by New Guy’s gift—an embroidery of himself and his boyfriend, signaling acceptance from the family.

Two other ads round the work out, but act more as surveys of all the unique stuff you can get on Etsy. There are also Spanish variants.

We can practically see the keyword buckets for the programmatic campaigns! 

The ads will appear on digital channels in the U.S. Etsy will also roll a holiday campaign out in the U.K., as well as in Germany for the first time. 

CREDITS

Company: Etsy
Creative Agency: 72andSunny New York
Production: Somesuch
Director: Vincent Haycock
Editorial: Final Cut
Editor: Darren Baldwin & Patrick Colman 
Post Production: Ethos Studios
Music and Sound Design: Squeak E. Clean Studios