Santa signs up to Campaign Brief to find out who’s been naughty or nice with ‘Comments by Candle-light’ Xmas campaign via Fenton Stephens
We all love Campaign Brief. But let’s be honest, the comments section does anything but help the Christmas spirit. Sure, Uber Eats might’ve landed Kim K, but creative agency Fenton Stephens, Melbourne has enlisted SANTA FREAKIN’ CLAUS to sort this shit out. With presents.
We’re all tired. We’re all hungover. And we’ve all had that killer idea we’ve been working on for 6 months get butchered at the last minute only to have it further minced by an anonymous hero on the blog. It sucks.
So for the month of December, instead of ripping to shreds the next poor soul who posts their multi-vitamin iStock Instagram Story on the blog, let’s all try and say something nice.
And if you can’t simply find it in your heart, think about the presents. (We know you guys like shiny things.)
As part of the campaign, Santa has agreed to publish his Naughty or Nice list for the whole of adland to see. Use your real name, post a nice comment on any article on the CB Blog in December and you could score yourself a present.
Better yet, if your name ends up on the top of Santa’s ‘Nice list’ for being the nicest person of the month, you’ll unwrap a free trip to the North Pole. Of Australia. We wanted to send you to the actual North Pole but Finance gave us one of those ‘I am penetrating your soul with my mind’ death stares. But Cairns is still pretty good!
You’ll also be awarded the highly prestigious and soon to be sought after:
TITANIUM GRAND PRIX FOR BEST USE OF NICE COMMENTS ON CAMPAIGN BRIEF
Think of the doors it will open up. Not even Dave Droga himself has this piece of metal on his shelf. Actually, we’re not sure if this is even metal. Again, Finance.
Santa will also be delivering DAILY GIFTS, which will be announced on the agency Instagram. So follow @fentonstephens_ or we’ll have to stalk you on LinkedIn.
Our amazing daily gifts range all the way from homemade I Love (Lucy) Dumplings by our Senior Account Manager, a date with our Senior Art Director, Guillermo, and a giant inflatable turkey suit. You do NOT want to miss out on that.
Lynchy has even put 5 x BestAds Pro memberships up for grabs.
Finally, Santa would like to extend a huge gigantic massive thanks to Charmaine & the Monash University Gospel Choir. Not only did they absolutely kill it, but it was an incredible experience to hear someone wearing a choral gown in a church yell “That’s a sick web banner!”
Together, let’s make adland the nicest place to be this Christmas.
Visit commentsbycandlelight.com.au for more info.
BONUS FOR READING THIS FAR: FIRST NICE COMMENT ON THIS ARTICLE GETS A PRESENT!
71 Comments
This campaign has restored my faith in Christmas.
I bloody love this
Brilliant work, Fenton Stephens crew.
Be positive? What a stupid idea.
This is gags 👌
This is a bit of well-made, well-meaning fun from Fenton Stephens, but isn’t it a shame we need it?
No other industry seems to take such delight in tearing one another down as advertising. Do pediatric nurses host blogs to anonymously bitch about one another’s work? How about picture framers? Or coal miners? It isn’t healthy, especially when 61% of the creative industry show signs of depression. Building and maintaining any sort of career is hard enough without having random potshots taken at you.
And as someone who has previously contributed to the toxicity, believe me, it’s not until you step outside of it that you recognise just how damaging it can be, to both yourself and your industry colleagues. So let me lend on a lighter note with something my Grandma used to say: if you can’t be nice, be quiet. Now there’s a Christmas wish.
Love the “Fat Troll” line 😜… My Xmas take on the best comment I heard for the year… Santa couldn’t be everywhere so he created Mothers ❤️
Uncalled for
My Christmas wish is that this comments section gets even more accolades than Sharon and Kimmy being super noice on the Uber Eats release. The industry needs more rallying around just being fucking decent human beings to one another. Well done FS!
Ho Ho HoPE this campaign spreads Campaign cheer;
And that is lasts throughout the new year 😊
Loving the Christmas spirit guys!
Now go forth all ye faithful and spread it amongst the blog. Spread the love with the frenetic energy of a sweaty festival security guard flinging a plastic bottle of water all over the mosh pit on a 38 degree day.
See an article where someone is claiming that they have actually seen this done before on a Belgian bus stop in 1984? Tell them this is a totally different execution and it rules!
See an article about some guy in a media agency in Brisbane named Garry getting a promotion with no comments? Go on there and say “Hell yes Gary! You absolute mad dog! Going places my man.”
We can do this, people. WE CAN TAKE BACK THE BLOG.
Santa?
Jess you’re a bloody legend. This is awesome.
I will go to war for this comment.
Great stuff.
(a war of positivity obviously)
Suddenly I wish I was named Garry.
…or just that my recent acceptance of a role at a new agency gets picked up by Campaign Brief.
Great initiative @fentonstephens_ & clever engagement strategy.
Nice
I like it
And we like you, I like it guy.
Nice one guys. Made me laugh
…the Thinkerbell comment threads.
Don’t ruin my entertainment, it’s a consistent reminder of how many jealous and immature wankers are spread throughout this industry, keeps you grounded, and your head down low.
SM.
I like it, I like presents too ; )
The reasons ad folk tear shreds off each other is because of the nature of the industry business model. Free pitching for big accounts that, when they go off after a year or two, result in heavy redundancies. Of course that means you are going to be nervy af and totally combatant against anyone that might threaten your livelihood
Brilliant!! Unfortunately this is exactly what ad-land needs. Merry Christmas comrades.
How would this ever work as a bumper?
In the spirit of Christmas, I’d like to win that turkey suit so that I can give it to my Art Director, Phil Harkness.
You’re a turkey, mate.
Nice work, guys.
Jack that’s the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me – PH
*angry comment*
I love this. Hope it makes a few people sit up and listen. Spread the cheer!
Watched in full. Liked it and yes this is clearly needed. Good idea.(and all is nice)
Well done, Alex and team – it’s a real ‘Christmas cracker’, that hopefully makes all the fat trolls think, ‘Oh, oh, oh’.
Bah, humbug.
Amazing you guys!! Choir is cool and so is this 🙂 <3
The nun was pretty good too🥰
It’s funny how all these people have put their real names down, now we know who the anonymous trolls usually are hehe.
But nice work and more of this needed.
Don’t want to sway the judging here to simply win a prize but…Alex, I frickin’ love this idea and you’ve always been my favourite brother!!
Congrats to FS on a positive and timely reminder of the power of positivity. Congrats too on getting the publishing rights to the song – never realised Yoko Ono was so willing to get behind a good cause! Well done everyone.
Deep down, it was my heart that was poopoo weewee.
Santa here. Very happy to hear you’ve converted back to being a believer. As the first very nice comment, you’ve scored yourself a sick ass present. Follow @fentonstephens_ to claim it.
@George, please stop trying take credit for my work. On another note, I’m sure Sony/ATV and Jackson’s estate are kind to advertising agencies.
Go Izzy and Ana! Killer idea.
You get a present. Not because of your really nice comment which is really noice. But because you always use your initials. I notice these things. Follow @fentonstephens_ to see what it is. And here’s hoping your Christmas wish comes true. Cheers, Santa.
Haven’t smiled and sung along with a commercial this way, since The Big Ad for Carlton Draught in 2005!
If only every campaign could be this good – congratulations @fentonstephens – great work!
What an interesting game. The only winning move is not to play.
This is awesome guys. What a very un grinch like thing indeed! What a savage world we all live in, one where we’re all cajoling to throw down the next visionary moment, the pitch winning piece of brilliance the client never knew they really needed, that holds us in heroic regard with our own futurist style approach, and daring poetic trail blazing. Only to come crashing down when we choose that brown, that is so 80’s, and we all drank our own cool aid and patted ourselves on the back. But the brown was horrid. And in truth our trail blazing is fraught with endless pursuit and effort, constant input of inspiration, ridiculous ground hog day like commitment because unless we are freak like, unbridled radiant children.. unless we possess the qualities of Jesus Christ or Ghandi, we are validation junkees. We need the dopamine hit, we need to keep the fragility of what we do on solid ground. Because we’re all sensitive, and we all really care. And we produce art, but our art is applied, and our real critics, aren’t scholarly academics or high culture, they are hidden nihilists. But in truth what would the world be without the nihilist. The one that reminds us all the darkness we have inside, and we need them so that we can really account to ourselves. See that we’re all vulnerable. So this is really a pivotal moment in (Christmas) time, almost like Santa waved his magic wand (mixed analogies) and flew in a gift from Rudolf himself, a truth bomb, that makes us all stop for a moment and look at each other (metaphorically) and realise, we’re all humans. Warm, empathetic. Humanitarians maybe, that really actually do care, about what we do, and about each other. Because we are all, unequivocally, special. Each in our own way. And we’re all endeavouring to make art (applied art.. Or not. There is some of us that like the cash, let’s be honest it’s still the ad industry) And we’re all in it kicking, pitching, kaffinated, scrabbling together. John Lennon said all you need is love, it’s what we’re all looking for. Even the deepend darkened nihilist. Merry loving Christmas.. this is a Kris Kringle that actually has something thoughtful inside of it.
Mate, get a column or write a book. This is not a place to show off what a fancy pants writer you are. The CB Blog is mostly patronised by people of very limited literacy- ie: art directors.
Are certain ex agency creatives still on TV as some sort of advertising experts?
I also blame Gruen transfer for the rise in armchair ‘experts’. Probably the worst thing to happen to creativity is letting that smug Wil Anderson dissect our industry.
What bollocks. Wil has the smarts and quick wit to skewer the pompous and take down Russel for his indiscriminate love for all advertising, be it good, bad or indifferent. He IS the show.
Absolutely brilliant – let’s all get on board! Well done for bringing back the ad-love just in time for Christmas.
Brilliant idea, wish we’d thought of it:)
@Kate Sterling – same.
And now we know Wil Anderson reads the blog.
Nonsense @@ Au Contraire. His interjection would have been funny.
This is wonderful. Great stuff as always Jess. I’ve never commented on here before, always felt the petty squabbling was not my speed. Delighted to embrace this new direction.
Hey it’s me. Just letting you know I’m taking the weekend off. I’m bloody exhausted. Keep the nice comments coming. And be good over the weekend. Especially those of you going to Guilty…I’ll be watching. Always watching.
See ya Monday.
Fantastic work Fenton Stephens! Isy and Ana are lighting up Campaign Brief lately! Can’t wait to see whats next.
Bravo
I feel like people using their real names are holding back. Tell us how you really feel. Diplomatic nonsense doesn’t move anything forward.
I reckon this industry can’t help itself. If someone puts their neck out there, the narcissists are just laying in wait.
I’m all for this – nice one!
We all are well-versed with the origin of the Christmas festival. The crux of Christmas festival is celebrating the birth of Lord Jesus Christ, and in Anglo-Saxon geol, it is referred to as the feast of the winter solstice.Not only for Christians but for other religions also Christmas is one of the most colossal festivals. On the fine eve of Christmas, people exchange gifts, hug and kiss each other, pray, and send merry Christmas wishes to all of their loved ones. BEST CHRISTMAS MOVIES FOR MORE and Merry Christmas Wish Msg
Gee Alex, I though that was really noice
And a happy new year to the team at 171!
I wish this was encouraged for office gossip too. Amazing guys! Good job! (Loved the choir)
Enough is never enough. The ad industry has helped lead us to where we are to day. Drowning in crap. I can’t wait for 8k TV to be released so I can get rid of the 4k piece of crap I have now…. more detail, more colours… more enjoyment!
Such a nice idea! Love encouraging people not to be jerks… especially at Christmas!
Sayonara, grinches.
Love it, what a great initiative! No space for grinches here. Shout out to the purple nun, yas queen!
This is brilliant, thank you 😇
Campaign Brief needs more nice commenters like you. You deserve a present. Follow @Fentonstephens_ to claim it. For the rest of you, keep using your real name and posting nice things on ANY CB article. The TITANIUM GRAND PRIX FOR BEST USE OF NICE COMMENTS ON CAMPAIGN BRIEF could be anyones (and there are more presents). Cheers, Santa.
Fantastic work FS team! Always great to see you creative geniuses come up with a fresh new take each year.
In the spirit of being competitive, I’ll stick to the “rules” so here’s my post…
“a nice comment”
… because the most powerful punctuation is the quotation marks 😉
I like this campaign. I like the guys at FS too. It’s nice to be nice. In a world scarred by such rampant asshattery it’s lovely to see a positive little message like this get some traction. I hope they win.