Little adorable girls seemed to be the hit for the ads of the 2019 festive season. Both John Lewis and Macy’s showed their take on this recurrent theme to promote their products. Now, it’s Milka who puts to use a cute girl to make your heart melt, just like a piece of the chocolate does in your mouth. The little angel does what she can to make Christmas special – for anyone who’s out there, even for people suffering from disabilities.
The winter season is mostly about making our moments count. Still, there are other people that matter. People who work tirelessly behind the scenes to make the festive season memorable for everyone. Just like the selfless gentleman from Milka’s latest ad, whose “supporting” role got promoted to center stage by Wieden+Kennedy Amsterdam.
To show how committed is Milka to bringing the joyful spirit to everyone during the Christmastime, the Amsterdam-based agency closely worked with MassiveMusic, and conducted a 60-second-long video which stands at the heart of “The Unsung Hero” campaign. The short story takes place in an Alpine school, where children are rehearsing for the yearly Christmas performance. While minding their business, a little, adorable girl notices the school’s custodian working really hard in order to make the stage look extra special in time for the spectacle. At the same time, she also figures out that something is not right with him. So, our brave hero decides that regardless of his handicap, the janitor also has the right to enjoy the Christmas spirit to the fullest. And just like that, she gives him a helping hand!
To create the pan-European campaign, W+K partnered with the European Union of the Deaf and showed their creative side. To make sure that the Deaf community could appreciate the score, W+K also produced a musical interpretation of the soundtrack using International Sign language. “The story of the commercial revolves around the song itself so, after working on the re-recording, we had to ensure the music and the movements were perfectly in sync while being four days on set with 25 kids – definitely not something you get to do every day,” uncovers Guido Blom, Music Producer at MassiveMusic.
The Unsung Hero has definitely made the list our favorite Christmas campaigns of 2019. Naturally, we are not the only ones who like the heartwarming ad. Hans Brouwer, Founder & CEO of Massive Music and one of the speakers at this year’s REBELS AND RULERS event, explained why the commercial ranks as the best among this year’s campaigns, in which MassiveMusic was involved. “‘The Unsung Hero’ by Milka, a campaign we worked on in collaboration with Wieden+Kennedy Amsterdam. We got our teeth into it since the concept stage, working side by side with all parties involved. We re-recorded a kid’s choir version of Candy Staton’s iconic ‘You’ve Got the Love’, made even more popular by Florence + the Machine in 2008. The production ended up having plenty of harmonizations and almost no instruments, which gave us lots of freedom in terms of dynamics and build-up,” he further discloses.
Asked what his favorite part of the ad was, Brouwer kindly said: “You know, when I was a kid, I dreamt about being in the so-called ‘hit parade’. Thanks to MassiveMusic and the outstanding work of our producers and composers did for this re-recording, this dream came true. We’re in the German and Austrian Viral 50 Spotify charts as we speak, respectively at #1 and #2.”
So, why don’t you have a listen to the song, which features the ‘You’ve Got the Love’ by Candi Staton, also rerecorded by Florence + the Machine back in 2008? And let us know how you like it!