Woodgreen has seen a 62 percent rise in abandoned pets, along with many owners looking to give up their pets due to financial hardship. Last year, the charity helped more than 8,800 pets.

“At Ikea, we believe that pets are family,” says Michaela Quinlan, company spokesperson. “Our goal was to develop a collection of products that our cats and dogs love and that their human parents can feel good about and truly enjoy having as part of their home. We hope this partnership not only raises awareness of adoptions but also provides solutions and inspiration of how to create a comfortable living space for furry companions.”

Items from the collection can be purchased in-store and online, and include items tied to eating, sleeping, playing and hiding—the necessities for all cats and dogs.

Click images to enlarge:

There’s a happy ending for one couple, who successfully reach the peak together, proving that the treasure wasn’t so hidden after all.

“The campaign is part of a larger effort by the brand to bring their new ‘It’s Playtime’ creative platform to life through activations designed to engage audiences around larger social and cultural issues, but in a decidedly playful way,” says agency ECD Alex Katz.

A website offers consumers more info on the Orgasm Gap, products curated by EasyToys’ sexual health experts and additional videos “cumming soon” like “Exploring the Bush,” “Getting Wet” and “Wild Water.”

The work is running in European markets including the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Italy and Poland, across YouTube, TikTok and Instagram.

“This campaign marks the first in what is a new focus for the brand, in which sex positivity, open communication and daring insights will take center stage in the effort to grow the brand across Europe,” Katz tells Muse.

CREDITS

Agency: Officer & Gentleman
Executive Creative Directors: Javi Iñiguez de Onzoño & Alex Katz
Managing Director: Marta Blanco
Account Supervisor: Elsa Morales
Creative Team: Kiki Holshuijsen, Fran Pascual, Marta del Rosario, Marina Ayora
Director: Andrea Casaseca
Executive Producer: Tadej Magdic
DOP: Marta Díaz
Sound Design & Mix: ATM_Sound
Color: Marta Díaz & Jorge Mayorga

Those interested in raising their game can visit McDonald’s U.K.’s Instagram page to sign a contract validated by a Pre-Nug official in real-time. Plunge-takers will receive “love, McNuggets and prizes.”

There’s even printed versions of the Pre-Nug Agreement on tray-liners in McDonald’s restaurants.

In other McD’s news this week, Lil Yachty revamped the brand’s memorable “Menu Song” from the ’90s, and the restaurant’s ops in Australia revived the iconic “Two All-Beef Patties” jingle.

CREDITS 

CAMPAIGN TITLE: Pre-Nug Agreement
CLIENT: McDonald’s UK
ADVERTISING AGENCY:  Leo Burnett UK
CCO: Mark Elwood
ECD: Andrew Long & James Millers
CREATIVE DIRECTOR: Gareth Butters
CREATIVE: Chanelle Merriam & Joshua Merriam
CREATIVE DIRECTOR OF DESIGN: Dave Allen
SENIOR DESIGNER: Rupert Knowlden
SENIOR DESIGNER: Tomek Drozdowski
SENIOR INTEGRATED DESIGNER: Gurcan Ergur
SENIOR DIGITAL AND MOTION DESIGNER: Pete Rowse
PROJECT DIRECTOR: Siobhan Mulcahy
DEPUTY CSO: Tom Sussman
SOCIAL PLANNING DIRECTOR: Benjamin Obadia
BUSINESS DIRECTOR: Jay Perry
SENIOR ACCOUNT MANAGER: Nicola Kuan
ACCOUNT MANAGER: Jan Nikawala
CHIEF PRODUCTION OFFICER: Emily Marr
AGENCY PRODUCER:  Anna Cartwright

PRODUCTION COMPANY: SMUGGLER
DIRECTOR: Tom Speers
MANAGING DIRECTOR / EP: Lucy Kelly
PRODUCER: Luca Chapman
EDITOR: Adam Spivey @ The Assembly Room
EDIT PRODUCER: Phoebe Armstrong-Beaver @ The Assembly Room
POST-PRODUCTION COMPANY: Black Kite
COLOURIST : Tom Mangham 
VFX & COLOUR PRODUCER: Tamara Mennell 
AUDIO POST-PRODUCTION COMPANY: String & Tins 
SOUND DESIGN:  Adam Smyth
AUDIO PRODUCER:  Alina Miroshnichenko
MUSIC: Audio Network
SOCIAL PRODUCTION COMPANY: Sliced Studio
CONTENT PRODUCTION DIRECTOR: Yiani Andrikidis

McDonald’s Brand Team:
CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER, S.V.P: Michelle Graham-Clare
MARKETING DIRECTOR: Matt Reischauer
HEAD OF MARKETING, FOOD & BEVERAGES: Ben Sherburn
HEAD OF CONSUMER COMMUNICATIONS & PARTNERSHIPS: Louise Page
MARKETING MANAGER: Ana Saffer
BRAND MANAGER: Josie Thompson-Green
CAMPAIGN ASSISTANT: Kara Minnis

Agency Partners
MEDIA: OMD UK
PR: Ready10
CRM: Armadillo

Sometimes the hero plays the villain. Luckily for stain-fighting Persil, this story has a happy ending.

“Autograph,” a 3-minute video from LOLA Mullenlowe, stars Bukayo Saka of Arsenal and his biggest fan, a schoolgirl who’s jersey he autographed. Naturally, she lives in it, and the one time she takes it off, her dad throws it in the wash.

The beloved autograph vanishes—thanks a lot, Persil! Our young fan creates a “Find Saka” board so she can score another John Hancock.

As a cover of “Dreams” by the Cranberries plays, she travels throughout the city, always just missing Saka. But she finally gets that autograph and we’re confident dad will never be allowed near the jersey again.

Directed by Vellas, the work is part of Persil’s “Dirt Is Good” platform.

A guerrilla campaign launched in North London that included seven posters with real Saka signatures. (“7” is his team number).

The lucky seven who found the posters also received signed Saka shirts. Just don’t wash them with Persil!

Digital posters in Glasgow will identify specific locations, via weather data, where a moment or two of summer can be found. There’s even a website for folks in France and the U.K. to find summer spots in real-time.

Click images to enlarge:

“Anchored in the brand’s pleasure territory, the campaign aims to evoke the feeling of that ray of sunshine on long winter days, gently caressing you, mentally transporting you back to summer and awakening the desire to eat ice cream in that moment,” Tomas Ostiglia, ECD at LOLA Mullenlowe tells Muse.

Now, go find your summer!

CREDITS

Client: Unilever
Brand: Magnum
Campaign: Find Your Summer

Magnum Team:
Global Ice Cream Chief Marketing Officer: Julien Barraux
Global Vice President, Magnum: Benjamin Curtis
Global Sr. Marketing Manager: Tugce Aksoy
Global Digital Lead: Sara Paixao
Global Magnum Ice Cream NOW & New Media: Willem van Isselmuden
UK marketing manager: Lennon-Smith, Shannon
TK-marketing manager: Serkan Oguz
TK-  assistant brand manager: Alara Egrioglu

Lead Agency: LOLA Mullenlowe (Madrid)
Executive Creative Director: Tomas Ostiglia
Creative Directors: Jorge Zacher, Kevin Cabuli, Dante Zamboni
Creative team: Augusto Callegari, Pedro Mezzini
Design Director: Yan Graller
Art Director/Designer: Alan Chung
Managing Director: Tom Elliston
Account Director: Catalina Aguirre
Account Supervisor: Cristina Panea
Account Executive: Sofía Perez
Head of Strategic planning: Camila Facín
Strategy Manager: Bruno Yanagui
Head of production: Felipe Calviño
Producer: Marina Saro

Production Company: MJZ
Director: Juan Cabral
MD/Executive Producer: Lindsay Turnham
Head of Production: Lucy Jones
Producer: Nicolás Abelovich
1st AD: Federico Scarpelli
DOP: Javier Juliá
VFX Supervisor: Juan Pablo Listello
Wardrobe Stylist: Sol Montalvo
Production Designer: Charly Carnota
Make Up Artist: Marisa Wehit
Home Economist: Toni Krank
Post Coordinator: Jula Castagnino
Edit: Emiliano Fardaus
SFX Coordinator: Nasa FX
Production Manager: Pat Rzeznik
Production Coordinator: Federico Falasca
Production Service Company: Labhouse
Managing Director: Flora Fernandez Marengo

Post House/VFX: Glassworks VFX (Barcelona)
VFX Supervisor/CD: Carlos Navarro
Executive Producer VFX / HoP: Olaia Casal
Set Supervisor / compositing artist: Juan Listello
Compositing artist: Gloria Bernabé
Compositing artist: Noa Bofill
Compositing artist: Roberto García
Compositing artist: Albert García
Colorist: Julia Rosseti
Sound designer: Aimar Molero
Postproducer: Anna Gispert

Music Company: Big Sync Music
Music Supervisor: Alicia Leinot

Media Agency: Mindshare UK
Tess Domenet – Planning Business Director
Natasha Irwin – Planning Account Director
Elle Dockree – Planning Account Manager
Nathan Hope – Print Account Director
Holly Gibson – AV Account Director

Media Partner: Kinetic
Shahin Ejtehadi – OOH Account Director
George Peto – OOH Account Manager

What’s that expression people use for when the cat’s away? In this case, it’s Santa who exits, leaving his elves to mind the home front as he departs to distribute their year’s labors.

And off-duty elves can party! The work, set to Ricky Martin’s “Livin’ La Vida Loca,” was created by Leo Burnett for travel and leisure company Tui. In it, you’ll find Elf on a Shelf-type dolls setting off for a sun-soaked holiday jaunt the minute Santa’s reindeer hit altitude.

There’s something creepy about dolls with mostly inanimate faces getting into hijinks, but the minute-long spot quickly invests us in the fun. There’s a zeal here of shaking off the well-mannered employee shtick and cutting loose with peers. Two elves find love (or at least a memorable hookup), and there’s a moment of pure glee when one ignores Santa’s check-in call.

“Shaking up the yearly offering of Christmas clichés, our first Christmas campaign celebrates the feeling of downing tools and soaking up some much needed ‘me-time’,” says Sara Ali, director of brand and content at Tui U.K. and Ireland. “We are always looking for different ways to engage with our audience as part of our ‘Live Happy’ promise, so we’re very excited to spread some festive cheer this year.”

Ten custom puppet elves were created by London-based model-maker Andy Gent from Arch Model Studio. His bonafides include Wes Anderson works like Isle of Dogs, Fantastic Mr. Fox and The Grand Budapest Hotel, plus Tim Burton’s The Corpse Bride.

Directed by Alex Boutell of Rogue, Tui’s Christmas ad went live yesterday on Channel 4 in the U.K., during The Great British Bake Off finale and I’m a Celebrity … Get Me Out of Here! To support it, elves-gone-wild will take over Tui’s social channels, sharing “Elfies” of their adventures. A sweepstakes will see 12 people win a Tui getaway, and an “Elfie AR filter” will rock Instagram and Facebook.

“We all know how hard Santa works, but what about all his little helpers? Surely they deserve a well-earned Tui holiday for all their efforts!” says chief creative officer Chaka Sobhani at Leo Burnett U.K. and global. “As we enter the cold winter months, we hope this campaign gives us something to look forward to and plan for the summer.” 

Ah, summer. We’ve already forgotten that was a thing.

CREDITS

ADVERTISING AGENCY: Leo Burnett   
CCO: Chaka Sobhani   
EXECUTIVE CREATIVE DIRECTOR: Mark Elwood   
CREATIVE DIRECTORS: Rob Tenconi, Mark Franklin   
COPYWRITER: Matt Wood   
ART DIRECTOR: Tom Loveless   
PLANNERS: Aileen Baker, Beth MacKenzie    
BUSINESS LEAD: Lauren Martin    
ACCOUNT TEAM: Robert Ellen, Daisy Jackson, Libby Matthews, Selen Demirel, Ruben Forde   
CHIEF PRODUCTION OFFICER: Emily Marr   
AGENCY PRODUCER:  Dominique Strouthos   
MEDIA BUYING AGENCY: Essence Mediacom   
MEDIA PLANNER:  Mehr Chughtai   
PRODUCTION COMPANY: Rogue   
DIRECTOR: Alex Boutell   

EDITOR: Leo King – Stitch Editing   
PRODUCER: Tom Farley  
POST-PRODUCTION COMPANY: Black Kite Studios   
AUDIO POST-PRODUCTION COMPANY: Wave Studios    
MODEL MAKER: Arch Model Studio    
PHOTOGRAPHER: Rob Tenconi   

TUI:  
GLOBAL BRAND AND CONTENT DIRECTOR: Toby Horry 
DIRECTOR OF BRAND AND CONTENT UK&I: Sara Ali 
HEAD OF GLOBAL ADVERTISING/MEDIA: Felicity Walker
GLOBAL HEAD OF CREATIVE/BRAND ID: Christian Torres
SENIOR GLOBAL ADVERTISING/MEDIA MANAGER: Jennifer Litherland 
GLOBAL ADVERTISING MANAGER: Jessica Briggs

A couple of weeks ago, we reported on how upset M&S’ Christmas ad made people this year. There were many reasons for this, not least the fact that it’s not a great year for standout holiday advertising. Europe and the U.K. have been in a recession exacerbated by the war in Ukraine—with the U.K. politically and socially battered in general. (Even their Eurovision contestant this year doesn’t want to be there.)

The Brits fancied good vibes … maybe something to remind them of a time before Charles wore the crown. What they got instead was a Marks & Spencer ad full of adults being pushed to the holiday brink, and just losing it.

M&S has since said sorry about that. It has also quashed the original ad and released a recut version:

The original film focused on not feeling pushed to do things you don’t want to do. Doing what we dislike doesn’t make things funner. Instead, it makes everything harder, and we end up having a drag of a time. The ad offered catharsis in release from those social pressures.

The recut uses footage from the original, removing all the eye-rolling and disdain as various holiday humiliations take their toll. Nobody’s torching invites anymore. The “going rogue” vibe is gone. Now, we watch people doing spontaneous stuff that largely improves the shared holiday spirit. (In the previous advert, it was clear that such actions were precipitated because they no longer cared what others thought.)

Another minor change: M&S canned the confusing “Love Thismas, Not Thatmas” tagline, which viewers either hated because what does that even mean?—or because “Christ” was replaced, depending on who you ask. Now the tale ends with “Love Christmas.” (The voiceover, though, holds to some vestige of its previous iteration: “This Christmas, do only what you love.”)

It goes without saying that M&S isn’t going to win haters back over, because there is nothing to win. The mood of this time is just weird overall. A spot people can complain about does more of a service than a bland recut that sinks into an already underwhelming holiday pile. Did M&S have to apologize, or release a less controversial take on its previous work? Is that what we would’ve recommended as crisis managers?

It hardly matters. How many people actually watched the make-everyone-happy alternate ending to How I Met Your Mother? Right, three of us. And take it from John Lewis: there are more sinister things in the house worth worrying about. So, maybe just keep your head down and perfect your surveillance strategy.

The John Lewis Christmas ad is finally here, and it feels like opening the biggest box in your Advent calendar.

The U.K.-based department store’s 2023 effort marks its first from Saatchi & Saatchi after 14 years with adam&eveDDB. We don’t know what we were expecting, but it wasn’t this. As such, we’re not sure how to feel, nor whether it compares favorably to last year’s tale, where a man learns to skateboard for love of his foster child.

Maybe that’s as it should be. You can’t pit stories against each other on a leaderboard. It seems especially egregious to do so with a retailer that’s historically offered us a wide range of feels and themes in its yearly yuletide drop.

There isn’t even an obnoxious giant feasting table in this! It deserves applause for that alone.

Fans of The Little Shop of Horrors—which began life as a Cold War-era B-movie way back in 1960—might especially prize this year’s story, which depicts a Venus fly trap growing out of proportion year-round as its humans grow increasingly wary. The ad also winks back at the 1982 comedy-musical stage version (and the tuneful 1986 film) with a rhythm set to “La Vita è Una Festa!” (“Life Is a Feast.”)

We love that anxiety-inducing double entendre.

The plot: a boy finds a “perfect Christmas tree seed” at an outdoor market and takes it home to grow. (It merits noting that while the child is oblivious to the possible threat, his guardians always cede to the plot’s momentum, even when their faces suggest they know better.) The music kicks off when he sticks a finger in the baby fly trap’s gaping mouth, and it nearly snaps shut on him. 

Thereafter, the plant grows larger and larger, with the kid its only ally. It seems to have designs on the family dog … and while it does cute stuff, like help with holiday decor (by viciously tearing paper), the adults grow nervous in its presence. They finally drag it outside and bring in a proper passive fir tree. (That one won’t try to murder you. Rather the reverse: It will slowly die as you sing and exchange gifts—an order of domination no less violent, but one that we prefer.)

The fly trap gazes in through a window at the seasonal celebration, compelling the boy and his family to bring it presents. It gobbles them with gusto, foreshadowing what it could do with its human hosts if they ever got near enough at the right moment.

But all’s well that ends well. For it spits out the gifts, perfectly intact, and vomits homemade confetti into the sky. Hooray!

Let’s revisit the ad’s inspiration, The Little Shop of Horrors. It’s a comedic parable about a naive guy, infatuated with a woman who doesn’t seem to know he’s alive. The exotic people-eating plant he’s cultivating stokes his innermost feelings. He eventually becomes an accessory to homicide as the plant’s appetites grow.

The shop is nostalgically charming, located in an industrialized neighborhood that’s falling apart. Every character has a darkness that’s used to advance the comedic stakes, making viewers complicit in what we witness. We’re egged on, partly by horror, partly by good-natured cajoling, just as the carnivorous plant guides the protagonist toward unthinkable acts of butchery. The narrative doesn’t end well.

Saatchi’s work for John Lewis has a similar dynamic. A Venus fly trap is probably the best-known carnivorous plant. The tension of allowing one to grow to epic proportions, unfettered, in your own home, becomes thick enough to cut.

The boy doesn’t notice this. He’s a kid and the plant is his friend. To keep from hurting his feelings, anxious adults break their own boundaries. They allow themselves to be overridden by his innocence, which keeps them all in a state of high alert. The plant appears aware of this, manipulating the boy’s goodwill while cultivating a numbness to its violent nature.

The story seems to end well, but we suspect it goes on beyond the wrap. A moment will arrive when tragedy strikes … but for now, that’s beyond our horizon. (Maybe we’ll worry about it after the holidays.)

We want to reiterate that we didn’t know what to expect this year from John Lewis, which has triggered all kinds of emotions in us over the past decade-plus. The ones it awakens now mirror something existential and universal, a slow-growing malaise and a longing for relief. It’s harder now for more people to make a living; this has been the case since pandemic confinement transferred unthinkable amounts of wealth into the hands of the already-rich.

Meanwhile, our taxes fund wars. A recession continues to spread westward like a fog. And the pandemic’s specter tightens its grip as the nights stretch long. In the northern hemisphere, the weather is unseasonably warm, a chilling reminder of our strained ecosystem.

It’s a lot. It’s a carnivore looming ever larger, one we mostly ignore for our own good reasons. If nobody else is taking definitive action, maybe it’s best to do nothing? And it’s the holidays. Can’t it bloody wait?

Sure. It makes no difference. This year, John Lewis captures what it feels like when an undefinable force invades our personal (and shared) space, growing larger than we expected, faster than we imagined possible. Even as we tremble, we carry on as normal, ignoring the message of our muscles, tensed for their own inevitable and violent consumption.

The plant is part of the family now. Happy holidays!

There used to be this medieval role where a person would taste food ahead of the king, to make sure it wasn’t poisoned. This concept trickles into modernity through U.K. grocer Asda’s “chief quality officer” post, embodied by a perky Michael Bublé, who does not seem at all concerned about toxins.

Directed by Taika Waititi, “Make this Christmas Incredibublé” sees the singer fulfill his duties throughout the store. He gives everything a nibble before it hits the floor, sometimes making small recommendations. (The inevitable “Christmas feast” shot—spread grandly before grinning employees who bring to mind Hook’s Lost Boys—arrives early.) In a wink to 2022’s super-cute “Elf” ad, Bublé dismisses maple pigs-in-blankets as “so last year.”

“Christmas just isn’t Christmas without Michael Bublé,” says Vicki Maguire, chief creative officer at Havas London, which conceived the ad. “He’s an undisputed icon who gets everyone singing, dancing and feeling merry. And after another tough year, customers deserve it.”

“But it’s not just Christmas Michael Bublé is synonymous with,” she adds. “He understands great quality. If it isn’t good enough for Bublé, it isn’t good enough for Asda customers. And we hope this campaign puts a big smile on their millions of faces.”

In a nice final bit, Bublé appears at a charmingly snow-kissed Asda to help the choir wrap up “Winter Wonderland.”

It’s telling that Morrisons’ holiday ad, featuring oven mitts lip-syncing to Starship’s “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now,” ranks among the most emotionally fetching festive commercials we’ve seen so far this season. 

The star fades a little when we consider it’s a distant facsimile of the joyful, vivid “Viva La Vulva” ad by Bodyform. But that’s not to take away from its merits! No celebs were used to boost its cred, and you get the big Christmas-feast shot, which is what the client wants most.

The work debuted during ITV’s Coronation Street, but it’s also expected to air across network staples like The Great British Bake Off, I’m a Celebrity and Goggle Box. Plus, it will run in cinemas ahead of The Marvels, the latest Hunger Games, and Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour.

Within those windows, the great song will do the heavy lifting, and the cheerful singing mitts will give viewers ample reason to bob their heads.

The ad wraps with the “More Reasons to Shop at Morrisons” jingle, an awkward transition that can’t be helped. The supermarket chain also invites the U.K. public to “share the glove love” (don’t overthink that) with an oven mitt karaoke competition on social media, via hashtag #GloveOke. Winners could score a free shopping spree.

All this and more brought to you by Leo Burnett U.K.

CREDITS

CLIENT: Morrisons
ADVERTISING AGENCY: Leo Burnett UK
CCO: Chaka Sobhani
EXECUTIVE CREATIVE DIRECTOR: Mark Elwood
CREATIVE PARTNERS: Andrew Long, James Millers
CREATIVE DIRECTOR/WRITER: Gareth Butters
CREATIVE DIRECTOR DESIGN: David Allen
LEAD DESIGNER: Rupert Knowlden, Harry Ingrams
DESIGNER: Maddie Rourke
DESIGNER: Roxana Iriciuc
MOTION DESIGNER: Carmen Perez Jimenez
PLANNING PARTNER: Joe Beveridge
SENIOR PLANNER: Jenika Hadipour
SENIOR SOCIAL PLANNER: Benjamin Obadia
BUSINESS LEAD: Sophie Garrett
ACCOUNT DIRECTOR: Matt Paul
ACCOUNT DIRECTOR: Lorna Fernie
SENIOR ACCOUNT MANAGER: Gabriella Watts
SENIOR ACCOUNT MANAGER: Carys Parry
ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE: Meyaa Nelson
PROJECT DIRECTOR: Fahed Eichikhe
CHIEF PRODUCTION OFFICER: Emily Marr
AGENCY PRODUCER: Anna Cartwright
MEDIA BUYING AGENCY: Wavemaker
MEDIA LEAD:  Dan Jannings
MEDIA ACCOUNT DIRECTOR: Emily Gordon
MEDIA PLANNER:  Richard Bartlett
PRODUCTION COMPANY: Arts & Sciences
DIRECTOR: Tim McNaughton 
EDITOR: Leo King @ Stitch Editing
PRODUCER: Ewen Brown
EP: James Bland
DOP: Tom Townend
FOOD STYLIST: Elaine Ngan
PRODUCTION DESIGNER: Olly Williams
PUPPETEERS: Olly Taylor and Lyn Robertson Bruce
PUPPETS: Andy Gent at Arch Model Studio
POST-PRODUCTION COMPANY: Black Kite Studios
VFX PRODUCER: Hannah Ruddleston 
COLOURIST: Richard Fearon 
VFX SUPERVISOR: Paul Wilmot
VFX TEAM: Matthew Hutchins & James Marshall
AUDIO POST-PRODUCTION COMPANY: String & Tins
SOUND ENGINEER: Adam Smyth
AUDIO POST-PRODUCTION PRODUCER: Alina Miroshnichenko 
MUSIC SUPERVISION: Dave Bass & Ronnie Olubayo @ Wake The Town