PETA’s ‘Christmassace’ serves up some seasonal shock
However you feel about PETA’s message, Christmassacre is a devastatingly effective ad series.
PETA isn’t known for holding back on its messaging, so why should Christmas be any different?
‘Christmassacre’ adds a disquieting twist to the omnipresent genre of ‘luxurious food closeups’, forcing the viewer double take at the gory subtext of the otherwise innocent (vegan) products on display.
Other OOH visuals present a sinister reimagining of festive iconography, transforming symbols of joy and generosity into reminders of slaughter.
There’s also an ad, devised in partnership with Grey London and directed by Emmy and Cannes Lions–winning filmmaker David Shane.
The two-minute film opens with a wholesome British family sitting down for Christmas dinner.
Then, without warning, a torrent of blood cascades onto their faces and stains their tablecloth.
The message? More than 180 million animals are slaughtered in the UK alone during the festive season to fill plates with turkey, ham, and beef Wellington. Hardly subtle, but certainly memorable.
Helen Rhodes, chief creative officer at Grey London, said: "Nothing says Christmas like carving up the corpse of a once-sentient being in front of your nearest and dearest. This year, we wanted to shine a light on that dark festive tradition, to expose the quiet, normalised savagery that plays out at millions of dinner tables across the country."
Director David Shane added: "It's such a strong and simple idea. We're all complicit, right? Most of us kind of turn a willful blind eye to how the food we eat at the holidays arrives on our plate. But even though we're trying to say something fairly serious, it was a ludicrously hilarious shoot. And the hardest job fell to our lovely cast, who had to try not to laugh when getting sprayed with streams of fake blood."
The campaign runs across cinema (UK), social media (Germany, UK, US), and out-of-home advertising, with guerrilla-style fly postings across London.
Shock tactics
PETA's advertising strategy has always thrived on provocation. Past campaigns have included nakedness (notably in 2003's ‘I'd Rather Go Naked Than Wear Fur’), grotesque imagery (the ‘DIY Hermès Birkin Bag’ exposé showing stained leather), and disturbing juxtapositions (livestock labelled as human body parts).
The charity's Christmas campaigns have grown increasingly provocative. Last year's Christmas ad featured a schoolgirl with a trumpet befriending a cow, only to have the cow carted off to the slaughterhouse.
It’s all something of a contrast to the ads this week by Waitrose and Walmart.
But then, that’s the point, right?
Image credit: PETA
Credits
Agency: Grey London
Creative Team: Helen Rhodes (chief creative officer), Sam Haynes & John Gibson (creative directors)
Director: David Shane (O Positive)
Production Company: O Positive
VFX: Untold Studios
Editor: Gavin Cutler (Mack Cut)
OOH Director: James Day
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