European financial group, Erste, has made its humanness known through its Christmas ads, which since 2018 have been irresistible, heartwarming, animated animal stories about the power of love by Jung von Matt DONAU.
This year’s story is about a human, an elderly man in an aged care facility. It’s particularly apt because this has been a very harsh year for the elderly. In Australia, Covid peeled the veil away from the rot in its aged care industry and throughout the world, older people were isolated more than usual by the pandemic’s virulent attacks on the elderly and the restrictions that were put in place to protect them.
Jung von Matt DONAU’s 2020 Christmas story for Erste, #EdgarsChristmas, highlights elderly loneliness, but the power of love theme still shine through.
Jung von Matt DONAU creative director, Michael Nagy, commented, “This year we’re addressing a theme that’s important for Christmas every year, but all the more in these exceptional times—namely: being there for each other. That’s what drives Marie, the optimistic and lively caregiver who doesn’t want to accept that the ageing composer Edgar is increasingly withdrawing into himself as his hearing loss progresses.”
“Loneliness and isolation have been the defining themes of this pandemic year,” stated Martin Radjaby-Rasset, head of group brand management at Erste Group. “Unfortunately, that is likely to remain true for most people also during the Christmas season, when we would usually get a chance to be close to our family and friends. We wanted to show what’s possible when people are there for each other and when they believe in themselves and others, especially in these times.”
#EdgarsChristmas will run in 11 countries across central and eastern Europe.
Debbie Crosscup, executive producer at Passion, which produced the film, added, “For our third time producing these very special Christmas films, one of our biggest challenges of the pandemic year was turned into a benefit. We’ve all been working remotely but this has freed us to team up with artists from across the globe who we’ve wanted to work with for years. We built a unique team, with members from Canada to Europe, who have come together to tell this incredible story.”
Watch the previous Christmas stories:
Credits:
Agency: Jung von Matt/DONAU
Creative Director: Andreas Putz, Mike Nagy
Copywriter: Caspar Satek
Art Director: Mike Nagy, Caspar Satek
Consultants: Katharina Höller & Katharina Hinterkörner
Production: Passion Animation Studios (U.K.)
Directors: Kyra Buschor & Constantin Paeplow
Animation Director: Ferran Casas, Kyra Buschor & Constantin Paeplow
Executive Producer: Debbie Crosscup
Head of Production: Mike Turoff
Producer: Anna Cunnington
Production Assistant: Katie Harris
CG Coordinator: Sade Tah
Head of CG: Jason Nicholas
VFX Supervisor: Dave Walker
CG Supervisor: David Watson
Music: Mcasso UK
Composer: Mike MacLennan
Sound Design: Tom Martin
Producer: Tom Martin
Assistant Producer: Emma Winton
Orchestra: Budapest Scoring Orchestra
Orchestral Mixer: Adam Miller @ Air Studios
Additional Mixing: Richard Atkinson @ Mcasso
Post Production: Unit Studios UK
Colourist: Denny Cooper
Producer: Joanna Papayianni
2D Artist: Richard Greenwood
Media: Sabine Binder-Wessely @ Wavemaker
Client: Erste Group Bank AG
Head of Group Brand Management: Martin Radjaby-Rasset
Group Brand Management: Daniel Ratzenböck & Juraj Flimel
Social Media: Klaus Lackner
