TBWA\Buenos Aires investigates the truth about Santa [:cuteness warning]

It’s easy to see why this online video and TVC for Buenos Aires shopping centre, Unicenter, has everybody talking in Argentina.

Polygraph has all the right ingredients – the magic of believing in Christmas, adorable kids saying adorable things and a heartwarming theme.

It’s also a rather delightful world away from the usual shopping centre fare, which gives it added spice as an advertisement.

Every December, hundreds of kids visit Unicenter (Argentina’s largest shopping centre) to get their traditional pictures taken with Santa Claus. TBWA\Buenos Aires gave a handful of kids a bonus this year.

The agency interviewed children aged between 4 and 7, using a polygraph to find out when they were lying. Of course, the lies they told about Christmas – the wonderful things that children believe about Santa and one little girl’s anecdote about her friend, Martin, seeing Santa – didn’t register as such and the ad closes with Unicenter’s statement, We believe in Christmas.

Credits:

Agency: TBWA\Buenos Aires
Chief creative officer: Pablo Poncini
Executive creative directors: Juan Cruz Bazterrica & Guillermo Castañeda
Creative directors: Fernando Serra & Nicolás Centroni,
Art directors: Manuela Charre & Martina Fontana
Copywriter: Ivo Nievas
Production manager: Gonzalo Calzada
Producers: Negro Ibáñez & Charly Agüero
Account director: Agustina Vazquez
Account executive: Carolina Cornejo

Production company: Oruga Films
Directors: Javier Nir & Pablo Fischerman
Executive producer: Ioni Borisonik
Producer: Ariel Fainholc
DOP: Julian “Mex” Ledesma
Post production: Santiago Travi
Editing: Andrés Quaranta
Soundtrack: Supercharango