In collaboration with FCB Canada, Cole Webley via Toronto production house Soft Citizen (he is handled in the U.S. by Sanctuary) directed this charming three-minute holiday story about a group of young friends who discover a lost reindeer in the woods and set to work on getting the animal home to the North Pole for Christmas.
Titled “Lost Reindeer,” this ambitious ad for Air Canada conveys the unique emotional pull of being home with loved ones during the holidays. VFX/animation house was Cape Town, South Africa-based BlackGinger.
Credits
Client Air Canada Agency FCB Canada Nancy Cimi-Lamanna, Jeff Hilts, co-chief creative officers; Jonathan Careless, creative director/copywriter; Troy McGuinness, creative director/art director; Dena Thompson, producer. Production Soft Citizen, Toronto Cole Webley, director; Eve Preger, Link York, Rob Burns, exec producers; Christopher Cho, line producer; Paul Meyers, DP; Jonas Sappington, production designer. Postproduction Saints Editorial Ross Birchall, editor; Paula Hicks, assistant; Tory Osler, exec producer. Color MPC Kris Smale, colorist. Online Darling Steve McGregor, online artist. Animation/VFX BlackGinger, Cape Town, South Africa Marco Raposo de Barbosa, VFX supervisor; Simone Fanti, VFX producer; Chris Bekker, project lead; Ruth Molteno, studio manager; Stephanie Traut, VFX editor; Louis Rossouw, Jason Slabber, Sean Maddock Wilkins, Jonathan Coetzer, Matthew Wawn, Ruan Rosslee, Adrian Le Roux, Stefan can Der Sandt, 3D artists; Byron Tofas, Angelo Beceiro Collinicos, Dylan Palmboom, Annel Rautenbhach, Carelize Jacobs, Rob Muir, Nicholas Mackay, Tyla Koen, Jean Redelinghuys, Thou Mathapo, Courtney Scholtz, Marion Wilson, Sara Laubscher, 2D artists. Music Apollo Music Spencer Hall, music track director, engineer; Daenen Bramberger, music track director; Francois Lachance, Vanessa Hauguel, Paulinee Viard, music rights clearance. Song: A Perfect Miracle. Artist: Spiritualized.
How do you top one of the most viral brand videos ever made? Spoiler alert: you can’t. But when Dollar Shave Club tapped Zack Seckler to direct a new campaign to revive the absurdist humor of its iconic launch video, he knew he had a rare opportunity to create something special.
The brief was simple: introduce the concept of a physical “Club” that people would love to join while showcasing Dollar Shave Club’s products and embracing the weird. From script to direction and post, Seckler--an alum of SHOOT’s 2021 New Directors Showcase--was invited to help sculpt that vision.
The result is this “Welcome to the Club” spot which invites us to join a unique, seemingly exclusive but in reality an accessible and affordable fraternity of Dollar Shave Club members. But you need to know the password or more accurately, the two-word phrase--"shave money."
“The Club” campaign brings the brand back to its humorous roots, reflecting a new chapter after being acquired by Nexus Capital Management from Unilever in late 2023. The work takes Dollar Shave Club back to its disruptive beginnings and what made the brand a viral sensation from its inception in 2011.
