American Express reimagines the 'staycation'
In collaboration with Dentsu Creative, American Express’ ‘Little Holidays’ campaign is designed to elevate the overlooked pleasures in, well, buying stuff.
It’s been a minute since we covered stop motion in Creative Moment, so we welcome American Express’ creative use of the medium in its lead film.
In the ad, we see everyday folk (albeit clay ones) enjoy some escapism through retail, including a roller coaster-turned-shoe and a record player listening session depicted as an enjoyable drive.
The advert’s shoot was described as ‘technically challenging, combining motion control, a little stop motion and CG characters’. The scale of the characters demanded probe and periscope lenses running on Motion Control (highly precise, computer-controlled camera systems) at Clapham Road Studios.
The style is mind-bending and whimsical, using bright colours and gentle, upbeat music.
Our Take
This campaign’s storytelling marks a departure from American Express’ luxury and global travel messaging. Here, Amex softens its tone, focusing on small-scale enjoyment of regular everyday purchases, and letting these moments speak louder than aspirational goals.
The approach of the ad is something of a theme in Ad Land too, appealing to fairly unlavish, but enjoyable everyday products and services within the reach of regular people. The campaign leverages social media’s appetite for relatable, bite-size content, while giving creative teams a blueprint for blending fantasy with reality.
Credits
Directors: Andy Biddle & Adeena Grubb
DoP: Malcolm Hadley GBCT
1st AC: Mark Swaffield
Moco Op: Stuart Galloway
Gaffer: Max Milner
Executive Producer: Bart Yates
Head of Production: Alex Halley
Producer: Cinday Burnay
Production Manager: Caroline Milsom
Runners: Ben Cockerill, Will Gray, Trixie May, Zarah Bao
VFX Supervisor: Fabio Zaveti, Arvid Niklasson
Electricians: Ryan Monteith, Pearce Crowley
Art Director: Ben Cote
Art Department Assistant: Areeya Bass, Anita Brūvere
Motion Rigger: Robin Jackson
Caterer: Troy Cundy
Studio Manager: Daisy Garside, Laura Puig
Image credits: Malcolm Hadley via LinkedIn
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