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Sainsbury’s has unveiled a heartwarming advertising campaign featuring children’s book character ‘Mog’, to highlight the importance of sharing at Christmas.
Entitled ‘Mog’s Christmas Calamity’, the full length 3 minute 30 seconds TV advert aired for the first time yesterday (Thursday November 12) across multiple channels including ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5 and Sky simultaneously at 7.15pm.
The supermarket chain approached author Judith Kerr and her publisher HarperCollins Children’s Books and they developed the concept for the story together, with Judith writing and illustrating a new Mog book. It will be exclusively sold in Sainsbury’s to complement the story told in the campaign.
The campaign is designed to entertain children and families across the UK, as well as raise funds for charity. The book is on sale for £3, alongside a specially created Mog soft toy for £10. Judith Kerr, HarperCollins Children’s Books and Sainsbury’s will donate all profits from the book and toy to Save the Children to support its literacy work,
Co-produced by Sainsbury’s and HarperCollins Children’s Books, the campaign has been created in collaboration with Judith Kerr herself, who also makes a cameo appearance in the film.
The advert is a charming tale of a sequence of highly improbable and entertaining events that befall Mog in the early hours of Christmas morning, before the family is awake. In the midst of the chaos, however, Mog succeeds in contacting the fire station which kick-starts a rescue mission to save Christmas Day. In the aftermath of the smoke-filled calamity and following a visit from the fire brigade, the family turn to see all their neighbours standing in the doorway, armed with mops and brooms for the clean-up, as well as festive food, drinks and decorations; everyone comes together to celebrate the Christmas festivities.
Sainsbury’s director of planning and propositions Mark Given commented: “More than any other time of year, the Christmas season is when people come together with family and friends to share simple moments and kindnesses. For many families the sharing of stories is an important part of their Christmas celebrations. This year, we’re proud to be working with renowned children’s author Judith Kerr to create a magical new Mog story to be enjoyed by parents and children and to support the important cause of helping Save the Children to improve child literacy in the UK.”
