One could say that adam&eveDDB are taking this festive period by storm – after letting a cast felines destroy a beautifully decorated Christmas-themed room, and after melting everybody’s hearts with John Lewis’ Buster the Boxer bouncing ad, the London-based agency is proving their goal “to work with our client partners to make brilliant work that works” true yet again. In their first holiday campaign for Swedish multinational clothing-retail company, H&M, they decided to take their customers for a train ride. And when it comes to snow, trains and festive period, one can definitely expect some delays; lucky for us, these are filled with scenes of joy and the brilliant Adrien Brody.
The likeable short film labelled ‘Come Together’, that promotes the brand’s Christmas 2016 collection, was directed by American film director, film producer, screenwriter, and actor, Wes Anderson, whose films — like The Darjeeling Limited (which is also set on a train) and The Grand Budapest Hotel — are well-known for their distinctive visual and narrative style. Both of these films also star Academy-Award-winning actor Adrien Brody who plays the role of conductor, and together with his assistant porter Fritz, they prepare a Christmas-Eve surprise for all of the H&M Express’ various passengers travelling home to join their loved ones for the holiday. 
The 4-minute-long video’s last scenes are set to John Lennon’s ‘Merry Christmas’ and although it’s not filled with a clear audible message, we can see through the smallest passenger’s eyes and the atmosphere created by Anderson, Brody, and the agency that it doesn’t take much for people to come together and enjoy the spirit of Christmas even in challenging and unfortunate conditions. Pernilla Wohlfahrt, H&M’s Design and Creative Director added: “The winter train ride, under Wes Anderson’s direction, is the perfect setting for H&M’s holiday collection full of relaxed, wearable elegance. It’s about mixing the informal with a sense of occasion, capturing the holiday mood for both dressing up and getting cosy with loved ones.”
And as you probably know, this isn’t Anderson’s first endeavour with advertising – you might remember his “My Life, My Card” advert for American Express, weird one-continuous-shot commercial starring Brat Pitt for Japanese mobile carrier SoftBank, spot co-directed with Roman Coppola for Stella Artois, or our favourite by agency Crispin Porter + Bogusky for Ikea’s “Unböring” campaign.
The short film follows in the visually stunning footsteps of H&M’s previous advert from early this year — created by Swedish agency Forsman & Bodenfors – a piece for the wonderful “She’s a Lady” campaign starring Lionbabe that promoted the autumn 2016 collection. Take look for yourselves below.
Credits: