The Duracell Bunny saves Santa from a Christmas blackout in the battery brand’s first festive campaign in five years.

When it comes to planning a magical family Christmas, the slightest thing can bring the whole event crashing down. As every parent knows, it’s easy to forget an overlooked essential – the batteries for those new toys under the tree.

‘Bunny saves Christmas’, a new integrated campaign from Wunderman Thompson, and Bunny’s first festive outing in half a decade, is here to make sure that nothing gets in the way of a magical Christmas, thanks to Duracell Optimum battery’s superior performance.

The campaign launches on 1st November, and will run throughout the festive season, until the end of December, with activity live across EMEA and South America*.

The campaign will be led with a hero TV spot, and Bunny’s mission to power up the holidays also extends across out-of-home, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and in-store activations.

The hero TV spot shows Santa’s sleigh flying above a wintry forest, when the red-nosed reindeer, who is lighting the way, loses power and comes crashing down to the ground. But all is not lost as the Duracell Bunny speeds in, opening up the reindeer’s nose to reveal ordinary batteries. While an embarrassed-looking Santa looks on, the Bunny swaps in Duracell Optimum batteries. The reindeer’s nose immediately lights up, illuminating the forest around him even brighter than before and getting the sleigh back on track. The Bunny adds a sack of Duracell batteries to Santa’s sleigh, noting that ‘the toys are going to need them too’ before he continues his journey. The ad ends with the call to action: “Don’t risk it, choose Duracell.”

The TV spot will also run in 20, 15 and 10-second versions, with executions across social bringing Bunny’s boundless energy to persuade people to choose Duracell this Christmas. Supporting ads will run across Facebook, Instagram and TikTok.

Marco Montanaro, Associate Marketing Director for Duracell, comments: “I’m thrilled to see the Bunny return to TV screens, with this year’s Christmas campaign serving as a reminder to make sure everyone is ready for the big day. Between the Bunny’s boundless power, and Duracell Optimum’s superior performance, Christmas is back on track.”

Tom Drew, Executive Creative Director at Wunderman Thompson, adds: “‘Toys without batteries is like a creative department without a Christmas brief. This was a joy to play with.”

*In EMEA, activity will run in the UK, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Romania, Denmark, Belgium and South Africa. Within South America, the campaign will run in Mexico, Chile, Columbia, Guatemala and Panama.

CREDITS

• Wunderman Thompson:
• Executive Creative Director: Tom Drew
• Creative Directors: Jason Berry & Antony Bell
• Senior Creatives: Alex Horlock & Brett James
• Executive Strategy Director: Neil Godber
• Strategy Director: Jonny Park
• Business Directors: Lizzie Alleyne & Teodora Ninova
• Senior Account Director: Victoria Riggio
• Senior Account Managers: Kat Sarantopoulou & Rudi Macloskey
• Senior Producer: Charlie Woodall
• Associate Project Director: Katie Oldfield
• Project Manager: Lauren Stubbs
• Media agency: EssenceMediacom
• Creative production: Hogarth Worldwide
• Production company: The Mill, Paris
• Director: Geoffroy BARBET-MASSIN
• Grading: Nicolas GAUTIER
• Grading assistant: Violette MADRID

- Supervision -

• Executive producer: Fabien LECLERC
• VFX producer: Marie-Cécile JUGLAIR, Kahina LAMBLIN
• CG supervisor: Vincent CONI, Alexandre CORCOY
• VFX Coordinator: Mathilde COHEN-SELMON, Milan VICET, Alexandre DUPOUY

- Artists -

• Modeling & Environment: Xin PANG, Stéphane DUFOURNIER
• Generalist: Vincent CONI, Alexandre CORCOY, Guillaume THEBAULT
• Matte Painting: Alexia FERY
• Fur: Marion RESPAUD
• Rigging: Marine SISNAKI, Agathe DE CACQUERAY
• Animation: Pamella NABAIS, Tristan DOMENJUS, Ferdinand BOUTARD, Alban LELIEVRE, Geoffroy BARBET-MASSIN
• FX: Felix GUGLIELMI
• Lighting: Guillaume DADAGLIO, Guillaume THEBAULT
• Compositing: Vivien EBRAN, Killian ROY