Starbucks is bringing a little old-school artistry to its Christmas advertising, turning its festive takeaway cups into a miniature musical world in a new campaign created with global creative, advertising, and digital marketing agency Anomaly.
Titled ‘Perfect Harmony’, the campaign features a tiny band of hand-drawn musicians performing across Starbucks’ Christmas cups, with every element of the animated world illustrated by artist Geoff McFetridge using Sharpies directly onto the cups.
The ads will run across multiple countries and regions including the United Kingdom and the United States across television, digital, and OOH.
The creative takes inspiration from the handwritten notes and personal touches that have long been part of the Starbucks coffeehouse experience, using little more than a pen and a paper cup to build an entire festive world.
The campaign also reinforces Starbucks’ positioning of its coffeehouses as places for connection, with this time’s message delivered through a miniature band and a familiar festive chorus.
The launch comes amid a growing appetite for traditional illustration, animation and handmade creative in Christmas advertising, as brands look for ways to distinguish themselves from an increasingly AI-generated advertising landscape.
Earlier today, B&T covered Dior’s own artistic take on the festive season, enlisting acclaimed French animator Sylvain Chomet to direct an illustrated Christmas film featuring the voices of Rihanna, Robert Pattinson and a host of other Hollywood names.
Italian fashion house Prada has also turned to traditional animation for its holiday campaign, ‘Drawing Prada: Animated by Hand’, working with veteran Disney animator John Pomeroy to create an illustrated winter wonderland featuring actors Sadie Sink, Maya Hawke and Kelvin Harrison Jr.
Elsewhere, Porsche has launched a hand-painted festive film, while Levi’s has embraced handmade stop-motion Claymation for its Christmas advertising.
