Wonderful joins forces
with Illumination and
Universal Pictures for
new holiday promotion
He’s baaaaaaaack. And he’s green. And angry. And his name is not David Banner. Meet the 2018 incarnation of Dr. Seuss’s The Grinch.
We all know the Grinch’s M.O. He has been a holiday mainstay since the 1966 animated special first aired and then came the cringe-worthy Jim Carrey live-action film. Now, Wonderful Pistachios has kicked the stockings off the holiday season with a new integrated campaign featuring his Grinchness.
Created by Wonderful’s in-house agency and billed as a “multimillion-dollar marketing campaign,” we find the anti-holiday green furry thing going through an emotional roller coaster when he finds himself actually enjoying something during the holidays.
Wonderful Pistachios. You were expecting some other kind of nut?
Animated by Ilumination, the campaign includes two new commercials. In the first, which began airing October 29, we find a frowning Grinch is caught off-guard by how much he enjoys the taste of Wonderful Pistachios. And though he physically forces his face back into a frown, there’s no hiding the power of Wonderful Pistachios to put a smile on even the Grinchiest of faces. Take a look below:
“This partnership was a no-brainer,” says Darren Moran, Chief Creative Officer of Wonderful Agency. “When you put two famously edgy (and green) iconic brands together, the result is going to be fun, attention-getting work that becomes an instant holiday classic.”
To create the custom animation and all other campaign assets for The Grinch’s brand partnerships, Universal collaborates closely with Illumination Labs, Illumination’s internal creative division that has a team of over 150 people who work out of the company’s Santa Monica headquarters and IMG Studio in Paris.
The campaign will be supported by an online digital campaign and in-store point-of-sale (POS) including bins and standees. A second spot, which begins airing November 26, features the Wonderful Pistachios No Shells brand (my preference) for the first time on television.
Instead of stealing toys, this new Grinch spot will run off with your heart. Good job.
CREDITS
Client: Wonderful Pistachios
Vice President of Marketing: Adam Cooper
Director of Marketing: David Johnston
Agency: Wonderful Agency
President: Michael Perdigao
Chief Creative Officer: Darren Moran
Executive Creative Director: Amber Justis
Creative Director: Mike Condrick
Creative Director: Jason Fryer
Motion Graphics Director: Mike Hand
ACD/Art Director: Matt Koulermos
Senior Copywriter: Janna Carney
Integrated Producer: Matt Conrad
Account Supervisor: Ricci Ruden
Senior Project Manager: Nicole Klein
Project Manager: Austyn Frostad
Production: Illumination Entertainment
Contact Colin Costello at colin@reelchicago.com or follow him on Twitter @colincostello10.
