Santa Claus gets svelte and stylish as we see him upgrade everything from his suit to his sleigh in this epic year-long transformation for the 2019 Audi RS 5 Sportback.
Capturing the makeover is this online holiday short, New Santa, directed by Craig Gillespie of MJZ for agency M/H VCCP (formerly MUH-TAY-ZIK | HOF-FER).
Credits
Client Audi Agency M/H VCCP John Matejczyk, chief creative officer, co-founder; Joel Kaplan, executive creative director, associate partner; Allen Yu, Peter Neils, Eduardo Quadra, associate creative director; Michael Gallagher, sr. copywriter; Kinda Loughran, copywriter; Miranda Lee, art director; Tanya LeSieur, head of production, associate partner; Nicole Van Dawark, sr. integrated producer; Lexi Alaga, associate producer; Matt Hofherr, chief strategy officer/North America, co-founder. Production MJZ Craig Gillespie, director; Emma Wilcockson, exec producer; Debbie Tietjen, line producer. Bohemian Pictures Sherry Baumgart, exec producer; Daniela Bazgova, production manager; Lucie Vaskova, production coordinator. Editorial Final Cut LA Joe Guest, editor; Dillon Stoneburner, assistant editor; Suzy Ramirez, exec producer; Tamara Treu, producer. Music Squeak E. Clean Amy Crilly, head of production; Amanda Patterson, exec producer; Rob Barbato, creative director, composer; Drew Fischer, sound designer. Track title: “Making Progress” Audio Post One Union, Eben Carr, Matt Wood, sr. engineers. Color Company 3 Stefan Sonnenfeld, colorist; Gabriel Wakeman, producer; Ashley McKim, exec producer. VFX Eight VFX Shira Boardman, exec producer; Ryan Dahlman, producer; Jean-Marc Demmer, creative director; Julien Aucouturier, lead Flame artist; Joe Chiao, Philip Ineno, Flame artists; Alex Taylor, Shaun Tsou, Samuel Jorgensen, Marcelo Pasqualino, Nuke artists; Jaguar Lee, Yann Mallard, designers; Edwin Schapp, animator; Thomas Lopez, rigger; Yu Fuji, Houdini FX; Jarrod Avalos, motion tracker; Leticia Saldana, modeler; Ross Denner, lighter.
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.