Midwestern retail chain Meijer has debuted its holiday commercial, “You Better Not Pout,” which chronicles a family’s attempt to celebrate a COVID-impacted Christmas.

Directed by Noam Murro of Biscuit Filmworks for Chicago-based independent advertising agency The Distillery Project (TDP), the spot focuses on one family as they decorate their tree and enjoy the simple pleasures of their normal holiday traditions as best they can, in the current environment. It’s a familiar scene with warm lighting, festive music, and a sulky teenaged daughter very short on holiday spirit.

Moping on the couch while everyone else eagerly participates, our sullen teenager blurts out, “It doesn’t even feel like Christmas” before pointing out her little sister is “doing it wrong” when it comes to ornament hanging. “It’s all wrong—they might as well just cancel Christmas,” she says to no one in particular, but her negativity is contagious. At this point, the younger daughter runs off to her room. Eye contact and simple gestures are all the parents need to do to convey that somebody needs to make this right. “Fine,” the snippy teen tells them.

She goes to her sister’s room and observes her playing with a doll, then after a moment of reflection, she softly begins singing “Santa Claus is Coming to Town.” The younger girl looks over and chimes in. The ad tags with “Believe.” And a simple, hopeful reminder, “Christmas is coming.”

“The Meijer holiday spot has never been about selling product—it’s always been more of a Christmas wish for the community,” explained John Condon, founder and chief creative officer of TDP. “This spot is about empathy and hope–we’re not at our best when we pout, even though it’s a totally legitimate reaction to everything that’s happened this year.”

Credits

Client Meijer Agency The Distillery Project, Chicago John Condon, founder/copywriter; Ben Kline, founding partner, chief strategy officer; Kim Tanner, head of operations, partner; Nik Traxler, head of production/partner; Brenda Cortes, producer; Chris Pollock, creative director. Production Biscuit Filmworks Noam Murro, director; Shawn Lacy, partner/managing director; Andrew Travelstead, exec producer; Emily Skinner, producer; Rachel Glaub, Sean Moody, heads of production; Eric Schmidt, DP; Brock Houghton, production designer. Editorial Rock Paper Scissors Damion Clayton, editor; Sebastian Zotoff, assistant editor; Sasha Grubor, producer; Dre Krichevsky, head of production; Shada Shariatzdeh, exec producer; Eve Kornblum, managing director. Color a52 Color Daniel de Vue, colorist; Jenny Bright, producer; Thatcher Peterson, exec producer. Music JSM Music Joel Simon, CEO/chief creative officer; Jeff Fiorello, VP/exec producer; Norm Felker, Andrew Manning, Sharon Cha, producers. Audio Margarita Mix Santa Monica Nathan Dubin, re-recording mixer/sound designer; Sean Melia, Mike Murzyn, assistant engineers; Brian Frank, operations manager; Whitney Morris, Paula Arnett, exec producers.

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