Creative Corner: Burberry's mystery animator, Columbia CEO's challenge and PETA's shocking knit

It's the last Creative Corner of the year!

This week, as we bow out, I’ve found three campaigns that tickled my Christmas taste buds. First up is Burberry's Christmas animation with a mystery animator, followed by Columbia Sportswear CEO’s trolling of flat-earthers, and ending with PETA’s real ugly knit festive jumper. 

Burberry's mystery animator

I do love animation, especially when it is still created by a human hand. Burberry’s Christmas offering - a surreal adventure set around its equestrian knights - is no let-down.

But what is creatively intriguing about this crafted masterpiece, which features its iconic scarf sculpted into many guises from a cracker, from a steaming drink to a flying teddy, is the animator behind it. Or the mystery thereof. The creator appears to be an animator who goes by the name @xvybz on Instagram, a nearly empty profile made up of very few posts, as cryptic as they are fascinating. An illustrated pair of scissors, an Ethernet cable, and a modem appear on their page. A click through to a website will present the surreal message “This page can’t be displayed because your device is online” which then opens a new message email to contact hello@xvybz.com.

The animations are great in themselves, but the mystery animator adds to the feeling that you have entered a slightly surreal corner of the internet and, without doubt, makes it more shareable.

Columbia CEO dares flat earthers to find the abyss

Every now and then, a brand leans so hard into an idea that you have to admire the commitment. And the commitment in Columbia Sportswear’s latest act of marketing mischief goes right to the top. The CEO no less.

The premise of “Expedition Impossible” is brilliantly absurd: find the edge of the Earth, prove it’s flat, and win everything the company owns. CEO Tim Boyle kicked things off with a deadpan open letter in The New York Times, throwing a Columbia-clad gauntlet at the feet of Flat Earthers everywhere.

Boyle’s letter is an irreverent masterpiece, promising the winner everything from mannequins and coffee machines to the "taxidermy beaver in the cafeteria". He signs off with a cheeky disclaimer: "I will not be liable for sunburn, dizziness, existential crises, or unplanned meetings with the edge of existence".

Beyond the hero film, Columbia wades straight into the conspiratorial comment sections of Reddit and YouTube, gently trolling celebrity Flat Earthers to keep the conversation (and the brand's visibility) going strong. It’s confident, self-aware and a perfect reminder that Columbia builds gear tough enough for any journey.

The ultimate ugly jumper: Peta extends 'Christmassacre' campaign with shocking knits

Just in time for Christmas Jumper Day (December 11th), PETA has arrived with a provocative extension of its 'Happy Christmassacre' campaign. Hijacking one of Christmas’s long-standing traditions, the charity’s contribution to the festive knit sets out to expose an ugly truth.

The campaign centres on three limited-edition jumpers, each depicting the brutal reality faced by cows, pigs, and turkeys during the festive period (84 million poultry are killed in December according to DEFRA). At first glance, they appear to be cheerful holiday knits, but they are, in fact, graphic subversions of traditional holiday imagery, featuring blood spatter and slaughter scenes replacing snowflakes and reindeer.

The jumpers, illustrated in collaboration with Rave Growl and featuring "candy-cane meat hooks" and "snowflake-shaped rotating saws," are also getting a serious visibility boost by a line-up of vegan and vegetarian celebrities, including David Walliams, Romesh Ranganathan, and Bimini Bon Boulash. In a helpful twist, the label of each jumper includes a recipe for a festive nut roast.

Elisa Allen, Vice President of Programs at PETA, says that the jumpers “are more than cosy knits; they're 'truthbombs'" and “a call to choose compassion over carnage this Christmas.”

For those not looking forward to turkey and cranberry this year, a limited run of 50 jumpers is available via PETA’s website, with proceeds supporting the charity's mission.

Well on that cheery note, that wraps up Creative Corner this year!

As ever, if you’re launching something that deserves a spot in Creative Corner, or have seen a campaign you just love, please do share it with us. Email paul.lucas@fanclubpr.com

See you in 2026!