Why BMF Made a Never-Ending Ham for ALDI
One of the low-key highlights of the holiday season is a delicious curry made from leftover Christmas day meats. But what if those meats never had to run out?! This was the tantalising question at the heart of BMF’s festive campaign for ALDI.
Building on ‘The More the Merrier’ platform established by the brand, the creatives at BMF took it to its natural conclusion by imagining as much Christmas ham as you can eat – and quite possibly more.
The resulting playful ad has been an early highlight of this year’s festive season. To find out more, LBB’s Adam Bennett spoke to BMF creative directors David Fraser & Dantie van der Merwe.
LBB> Congratulations on a great campaign! Can you tell us a bit about where this idea came from?
David & Dantie> Ham often takes centre stage at Christmas. Even in the days after, every time you open the fridge there seems to be a mountain of ham left over. So, the team thought, what if there was a never-ending ham? And that gave rise to the pork prodigy.
LBB> What research went into coming up with this campaign? Were there any strategic insights that helped you come to this idea?
David & Dantie> Not when it comes to the miracle ham. But ‘The More the Merrier’ platform originates from the ALDI’s Christmas food range. It’s high quality, yet low priced. It lets everyone spoil friends and family, and be extra generous over the festive season.
LBB> The woman who throws the ham – can you tell us a bit about what’s going on there?
David & Dantie> There’s always someone in the village who hates Christmas. The old curmudgeon has some beef with our hero, but nobody knows their exact back story. It felt interesting to leave something open for people to fill in however they want to.
LBB> And do you think that woman ended up enjoying the ham with the rest of the group?
David & Dantie> She probably snuck a slice, begrudgingly. A person can only fight a miracle ham for so long.
LBB> Why was Hamish Rothwell the right director for this job?
David & Dantie> Hamish had the sensibility to play a ridiculous idea straight. A tall tale, seriously told. The more deadpan we made the silly fable the funnier things got. Hamish also gave the old lady a clear motivation: an urgent mission to make sure everyone is well fed. Yet he also kept her a little bit of a mystery. An enigma. We also liked his restraint in keeping the story confined to one tiny village, so the viewer could spend more time with an interesting array of characters.
LBB> At times, the ad has an almost fairy tale vibe. Is that intentional?
David & Dantie> Yes. The world’s in a bit of a state at the moment. It felt like people wouldn’t mind being whisked away in a fairy tale. And Christmas is the perfect time to do it. Continue reading on LBB…
14 Comments
Creatively this is a like not love for me. Which is disappointing considering it works off one of the best strategic platforms in the country.
Better than the other Christmas dross that’s been getting around here the last few days.
Fun talent, beautifully shot. 7/10 idea.
You’re kidding yourself if you think this wins Christmas
Shits all over Coles andWoolies efforts, c’mon?!
Well, that wouldn’t be hard, would it?
I get a Nordic aesthetic impression from this ad.
Small village, coastal/cliffs, strongman, Swedish backpackers, crusty old sea captain, accordion background music. Good to see that it steers away from Aussie stereotypical beach, thongs and barbecues.
This ad tries very hard not to be Australian. The cultural cringe is alive and well. Tuned for international juries, is it? Canne;s perhaps? Award mania is alive and well.
its bloody great.
pretty simple idea executed in an amusing and memorable way.
You get more by shopping at Aldi – job done.
The fairy tale aspect is genius esp with the other old lady screaming “Witchcraft!!!” (without screaming)
So much more refreshing than the saccharine laced rubbish we see from C&W every dang year.
and no i dont work for the agency
buy a smaller ham this christmas
Has anyone else noticed that the 30″s on TV make precisely zero sense? Without seeing the full cut, the cutdown and presumably a large chunk of the media spend is a missed opportunity.
The comments on this honestly baffle me. Has our industry been overrun by really boring thinkers? “Steers away from Aussie stereotypical beach”. Seriously? How f’ing Boring! We have the 6th largest land mass on earth, it’s great to see more of it.
This is brilliant advertising. A simple truth really well told. (Anyone who’s had a ham knows it lasts for bloody weeks afterward.)
I saw this on the tele last week and I was hooked from the moment it began and half way in I knew it was for Aldi, it just had that Aldi vibe. That’s strong branding.
What I’ve personally hated this Christmas is all this stuff that ‘tries’ to emotionally connect. And all the ‘this is what a “stereotypical Australian” looks like’, laced with token diversity. Coming from faceless companies that don’t really care about anything other than sales. And so all the work wreaks of creativity with no authenticity. We do fake Christmas spirit a lot.
This is just joyful and refreshing. It creates a magical place that captures my imagination. Well done Aldi. Well done BMF. It’s a pretty special thing you guys have got going.
Great ad l love it as it makes me laugh. No sloppy sentimentality. Suzi
The 30 is totally unintelligible.
Slack.
Hold your breath, make a wish, Count to three, Come with me and you’ll be in a world of pure imagination, Take a look and you’ll see, Into your imagination…
Good luck to all the Barney & Friends kids..