WPP’s AKQA has launched Fixmas.gift, an environmentally conscious AI-powered DIY assistant, affectionately known as Fixie, for a one-stop solution for all things repair.
Fixmas.gift hosts an array of guides and inspiration to empower people to prolong the lives of their belongings or purchase pre-owned items that need a little love and care.
Fixie can:
- Help you troubleshoot common issues
- Outline DIY instructions with step-by-step bullet points for easy fixes
- Suggest planet-friendly options like recycling, selling, or donating
- Inspire people to engage in the Right to Repair movement.
To launch Fixmas to the world this holiday season, AKQA produced a film showing that repurposed and repaired items can be just as valuable as new ones.
Ajaz Ahmed, founder and CEO AKQA said “Fixmas embodies the spirit of the holidays with the gift of renewal. Our AI-powered companion Fixie encourages mending, repairing, and extending the lifespan of cherished belongings to reduce wastage and conserve precious resources. It’s the gift that keeps on giving”.
Tim Devine, ECD AKQA AUNZ, added, “The best uses of AI respect and empower people and communities. And although Fixmas began as an experiment with AI and repair it quickly became clear this was more about changing mindsets. We’re often on autopilot during the gifting season, racing towards the holidays, and we seem to rarely stop and think about what we’re really trying to do; we’re trying to connect. Fixmas cultivates connection. Connecting with each other, with the objects we already have in our communities, and with the idea of rejuvenation and regeneration”.
Every holiday season is a time of vast consumer spending that leads to increased financial strain for individuals. Amidst the unprecedented rise in the cost of living, families around the world can expect to spend up to 24 per cent more on Christmas compared to 2022 according to WorldRemit’s 2023 study, with one in four UK adults likely to turn to buy-now-pay-later schemes to afford Christmas. This is further to one in three Australian adults forecast to go into debt, and 25 per cent of Americans still paying off holiday debt from last year.
This pattern of excessive spending and consumption, predominantly focused on new purchases, overlooks the potential of existing items, contributing to a disposable culture and environmental waste.
The film was created in partnership with multi-award-winning new director Theo James Krekis and award-winning production company Knucklehead.
