With Macy's 'Hey, Santa' The Store Is A Magical Stage
It’s a shame we only get predictably great advertising twice per year. Once during the Super Bowl and later during the holiday season. While last year’s Super Bowl was so bad my company made this public appeal, this year’s holiday ads are knocking it out of the park. I’ve chosen three to analyze creatively and strategically for you over the coming week. One from Apple, one from Chevrolet, and one from Macy’s. All three wisely position their products or services as enablers of something much bigger than we’d expect. Bigger and warmer and fuzzier and more magical, of course. Today, I bring you a gem from Macy’s.
Macy’s “Hey, Santa”
Creative rating: 🎅🏻🎅🏻🎅🏻🎅🏻 (out of a possible 5 Santas)
This spot immediately conjures up the movie “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation.” More specifically, the holiday shopping scene when Griswold meets the lovely Mary while shopping for his wife. Nipply comments aside, this song is now the perfect holiday shopping song, which sets the table nicely for what’s about to transpire.
We see the boy trying various products out—perfume, pans, and beds—so we pretty quickly understand the boy is shopping for a special someone. We just don’t know for whom. Is it his mom? That would be sweet. His sister or aunt or dad or someone else? While the music foreshadows the answer by pounding away at “Hey, Santa Claus, Santa Claus, Santa Claus,” the answer is not immediately apparent. And this curiosity keeps the viewer leaning forward as the spot progresses.
Adding to the drama, the writers add a charming sense of urgency to the boy’s mission when the boy covers his eyes as he passes the toy section. “This is no time for toys,” we can almost hear him think.
Then the wonderful reveal. He’s shopping for Santa, literally the last person anyone would have guessed. Santa is the gift giver, not receiver. But there it is, a young boy swimming against conventional expectations and giving Santa a useful, thoughtful gift. The tension of curiosity is now delightfully relieved.
The only reason I didn’t give this spot five Santas is that I found the ending scene slightly awkward for two reasons. One, the ending line, “Give love. Give style.” would have been far more powerful if it only said, “Give love.” I can almost hear the client demanding the agency include “Give style” in the spot, the agency fighting it, but ultimately giving in. The other reason I didn’t love the ending is the cut to the parents and then back to the boy and Santa. We didn’t need to see the parents’ reactions in order to appreciate the boy’s gesture. We already did. Could have just ended with Santa’s emotional reaction.
But these are just nits. The spot is great and very hard working for the brand, as you’ll see below.
Strategic Analysis: 🎅🏻🎅🏻🎅🏻🎅🏻🎅🏻
What’s most brilliant about this spot strategically is that the entire Macy’s store is the stage for this story. It’s not forced into the plot, it’s not gratuitous at all, it’s just, like the Griswold scene in the mall, where this story takes place. The store, then, is like a supporting actor enabling the plot to move forward. Not to mention the many product hits for perfume, pans, beds, and slippers. But, like the store, these product hits feel natural, necessary, and never forced.
And the ending line, “Give love. Give style” (despite the forced, uneccessary second half), nicely repositions all of Macy’s products. It’s no longer about giving someone slippers or perfume or pans, it’s about giving love (and, fine, style). Given the emotion of this spot and Santa’s reaction, our perception of Macy’s is transformed from a retail store full of things to an experience full of love to give (and, fine, style).
Well done, Macy’s. Griswold would be proud.
Will Burns is the Founder & CEO of the revolutionary virtual-idea-generating company, Ideasicle X. He’s an advertising veteran from such agencies as Wieden & Kennedy, Goodby Silverstein, Arnold Worldwide, and Mullen. He was a Forbes Contributor for nine years writing about creativity in modern branding. Sign up for the Ideasicle Newsletter and never miss a post like this.