Christmas gone wrong is a popular theme in advertising this festive season. As Hollywood has pointed out, human foibles at Christmas are perpetually entertaining. The latest edition to the human humour collection is Walgreens’ Holiday Road  by the specialist Publicis Power of One team for Walgreens, led by Leo Chicago.

The hero 30-second spot follows vacation movie franchise parody family through a rapid-fire series of holiday mishaps – from a squirrel jumping onto dad’s hat during tree shopping to battling tangled lights, carving a bone-dry turkey, and a sledding disaster. Each time, a quick Walgreens run provides the solution, whether it’s a meat thermometer and holiday lights, or heat wraps and lozenges. The Christmas message is that Walgreens is there for whatever you need. The family’s spirit of adventure and chaos is underlined by a re-recording of the classic Holiday Road song.

The US campaign launched on November 17, across streaming audio, TV, OLV, OTT, and social media, running through December 26. 

In social, the family’s teenage daughter chronicles their chaotic holiday through TikTok-style POV content – from dropping a giant ball of tangled lights to dash cam footage of the family carolling for hours before a Walgreens lozenge rescue. Each post documents the mishaps and the Walgreens visits that keep the season rolling. 

Jen Diacou, marketing director at Walgreens, stated, “The holidays are long, chaotic, and beautiful in their imperfection. This campaign celebrates that reality and reminds people that Walgreens isn’t just for those last-minute moments – we’re your neighbourhood partner through the entire season, making it all a little easier.”

Natalie Taylor, executive creative director at Leo Chicago, added, “The iconic vacation movie franchise is all about real families navigating beautiful chaos, just like the families Walgreens serves every day. Life doesn’t have to be perfect to be meaningful. Whether it’s a rabid squirrel stealing your hat or a saucer flying through a Walgreens parking lot, we wanted to show that Walgreens is there for all of it – the madness and the merriment.”  

Credits:  

Client: Walgreens 
Head of Retail and Pharmacy Marketing: Amy Hogan   
Director of Product Marketing: Jen Diacou   
Director, Enterprise Creative & Content Production: Stephanie Hall 
Manager, Category Marketing- Seasonal: Kayla Owens 

Agency Team: A Publicis Power of One team, creatively led by Leo Chicago: 

Agency: Leo Chicago  
Global Executive Creative Officer: Adriano Matos 
EVP, Executive Creative Director: Mariana O’Kelly  
SVP, Executive Creative Director: Natalie Taylor  
SVP, Creative Director: Aaron Pendleton 
Associate Creative Director, Copy: Garret Vernon  
Associate Creative Director, Art: Tricia Gillentine  
Design Director: Alisa Wolfson 
EVP Account Director: Kim Sharon  
VP Account Director: Chereese Griffin  
Account Director: Safia Hurst 
Account Executive: Manu Rajesh 
SVP Strategy Director: Tony Cregler  
Director: Henry Cadena  
Strategist: Emma Moyers 
Executive Producer: Joe Tipre  
Senior Producer: Sarah Tomick 
Media Agency: Connect Media  

Production Company: World War 7 Production Co.  
Director: David Shefi  
Executive Producers: Slone Skala & Kat Garelli 

Post Production: Harbor 
Creative Director, Editorial: Aaron Porzel 
Associate Editor: Annie Kalfas 
Executive Producer: Jenny McDonald 
Senior Producer: Tayler Gilchrist 
2D Lead Artist: Heather Keister 
Compositors: Gigi Ng, Melissa Graff, Katelyn Veneman 
VFX Supervisor: Gavin Miljkovich 
Colourist: Paul Yacono 
Senior Colour Assistant: Joni Brandenburg 
Colour Assistants: Emily Cramer, Rober Bell 
Colour Producers: Jake Grom, Taravat Yazdan Panah 
Executive Producer, Colour: Nadia Dabibi