For everyone who has watched Love Actually a dozen or so times, Coca-Cola and VMLY&R present two options. The world’s most famous soft drink brand is spreading Real Magic this Christmas with two Santa Stories. The brand has assembled world-class Hollywood talent, Steven Caple Jr., award-winning Transformers: Rise of the Beasts director and screenwriter, and The Mandalorian’ director, Bryce Dallas Howard, to make sure that its holiday short films live up to the occasion.  

The films were developed and produced in collaboration with WPP Open X led by VML, Imagine Entertainment and PRETTYBIRD, and released on Prime Video via Prime Video Direct, Amazon Freevee and Coca-Cola’s YouTube and TikTok channels on December 8.

Each film is a reminder of the Santa Claus in all of us and reimagines the representation of Santa in a different way, which connects them to its holiday commercial released last month. The Santa Stories forms part of the brand’s wider Christmas marketing campaign, The World Needs More Santa’s, illustrating how real magic multiplies when people embrace their ‘inner Santa’ – the spirit of kindness, generosity and goodwill. 

The first, Ho Ho Heist, is directed by Steven Caple Jr. and stars Academy Award-winning actor, Octavia Spencer and Screen Actors Guild Award-winning actor, Scoot McNairy.

The Note is directed by Bryce Dallas Howard and stars Irish actor, Colm Meaney.

Islam ElDessouky, global head of creative strategy and content, Coca-Cola, stated, “Stories have the superpower to move people and inspire change. With these short films we wanted to give more depth to Coca-Cola’s storytelling with authentic narratives we’ve not explored before. Santa is so interlinked with the history of Coca-Cola that we could see a wonderful opportunity to explore another imaginative dimension for what he represents, that people don’t expect to see. Harvesting all the creative genius of people that love and interact with our brand has been central to the success of this project. Working with all of the amazing talent on this project has demonstrated a beautiful open-source, co-creation model that makes the brand better, makes the story more impactful and represents the real magic of human connection.” 

Bryce Dallas Howard, director, said, “I’m encouraged by a brand like Coca-Cola, which carries a lot of cultural weight, putting their energy behind artists, creatives and storytellers and stories that will move people and give us a moment to breathe and remember who we are. We all want to connect and experience those feelings of love and community, and I felt that profoundly in the collaborative experience of making this film and I hope that’s what people experience when they watch it.” 

Steven Caple Jr. added, “The biggest thing that drew me to this project was the theme of the world needing more Santa’s and what does Santa represent to us as people, as a society. The idea that we’re trying to tap into generosity, kindness and how much we’re in need of it all over the world, reminds me of me as a kid, caring for other people, love. All of those things are tapped into this one special holiday and pours into the character of Santa Claus.”

Credits
Client: The Coca-Cola Company
President: Selman Careaga
Strategist: Elif Kaypak
Head of Creative: Islam Eldessouky

Creative Agency: VMLY&R London
Chief Creative Officers: Andrew Keller, Rafa Pitanguy & Simon Lloyd
Creatives: Tom Reas & Liam Riddler
Head Of Production: Greg Lotus
Executive Producer: Amy Turner
President: Kyla Jacobs
Head of Client Services: Jane Morrissey
Brand Director: Steve Albany
Chief Strategy Officer: Chase Cornett
Strategy Partner: June Fong

Production: Imagine Entertainment
Presidents: Marc Gilbar & Allan Mandlebaum

Production: Prettybird UK
Presidents: Ali Brown & Mike Rosen