Sainsbury’s Christmas TV advert campaign supports Great Ormond Street Hospital Charity
Howard Lake | 15 November 2016 | News
Sainsbury’s Christmas advertising campaign for 2016 includes support for Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity.
Sainsbury’s ‘The Greatest Gift’ film, which was first broadcast yesterday evening, highlights “the importance of sharing the gift of time” using stop frame animation techniques. It took 420 hours to film the stop frame portion of the film in the studio, and then a further eight weeks in post production.
Dave realises the importance of sharing the gift of time
The advert tells the story of Dave, a hard-working and devoted dad, who comes up with an ingenious plan to make sure he can be with his family for Christmas. It is told through a song, ‘The Greatest Gift For Christmas Is Me’, voiced by British actor James Corden.
How does the ad campaign raise funds for GOSH?
The advert itself of course does not raise funds and there is no call to give to the charity within it. It is the related products for the ad that will generate income for the charity. All profits from the sale of the specially created Gingerbread ‘Dave’ (£1) and The Greatest Gift film animation kit (£5) will go to Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity.
From 21st November, customers will also have the option to make a 20p donation at the till, or more if specifically requested, with all the proceeds going to the charity.
This is the first time full colour 3D printed faces have ever been used in animation production in the UK.
Sarah Kilmartin, Head of Broadcast Comms, Sainsbury’s, said:
“Christmas is for Sharing has been a constant theme for our Christmas ads for the last three years and it continues to have real resonance for our customers… Supporting Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity felt like a very natural extension of this as we know that the families at the hospital face more difficulties than most to spend time together as a family, at Christmas and all year round.”
Advertisement
Unlike other Christmas TV ads, Sainsbury’s includes its charity partner’s logo at the end.
Tim Johnson, CEO, Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity, commented:
“Thank you to Sainsbury’s and everyone who supports us through this initiative. The money raised will enable us to help more families be together when they really need to be, by providing dedicated accommodation close to the hospital. This is a vital resource, enabling parents and carers to be at their child’s bedside within minutes, at whatever time of the day and night. We couldn’t be happier to be involved in this campaign and hope everyone enjoys the advertisement and supports this special partnership.”
- The 2016 John Lewis Christmas advert includes support for The Wildlife Trusts
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.