Last year, many brands seemed ready to bury the opulent, magical holiday advert. AI-generated footage would do, they decided. Coca-Cola’s AI Christmas ad drew some of the sharpest criticism, and McDonald’s pulled its festive campaign after a backlash. This year, Levi’s has taken a different route with its stop-motion holiday campaign.
This year points the other way. Several big brands are stressing handmade craft in their holiday advertising, and Levi’s has joined them with a stop-motion film that shows what that choice looks like in practice.
Luxury labels set the tone first. Prada’s Christmas ad was directed by John Pomeroy, a former Disney animator. Levi’s now shows that the appeal of human craftsmanship extends beyond luxury goods.
“Let’s Get Fuzzy,” Levi’s stop-motion holiday campaign, was produced by the London-based studio Blinkink. It opens as a horror film, a playful lead-in from Halloween. A monster breaks into a group of friends’ festive retreat in a snow-covered cabin.
The monster, Fuzzyeti, finds festive jumpers and gives in to the holiday mood. The turn from fright to cheer gives the film its humor.
Inside the stop-motion holiday campaign
Levi’s chose stop-motion to reflect its long history of craftsmanship. The making-of video shows the scale of the work. A six-person team spent more than 2,000 hours over six and a half weeks building and painting the sets.
The crew built three cabins at different scales and 400 miniature trees. Each character needed four faces to cover its expressions.
Building physical sets by hand is its own kind of artistry, as Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s work shows. Iñárritu’s Digger and Its Evolving Set Design looks at how built spaces shape a story on screen.
The garments are miniature replicas of real Levi’s products. A stylist was on hand to ensure accuracy. The animators moved the clothes for every frame so they would look natural on screen.
That method is slow. Every second of finished animation required four hours of work.
Before animation began, the directors and actors filmed a reference edit, with the directors performing the roles themselves. A specialist monster actor played Fuzzyeti. The animators used the footage as their guide for movement and timing.
Why handmade work now carries weight
Levi’s has made animated work before. In 1971 it released The Stranger, a psychedelic 2D short. In 1995 it made Clayman, a claymation spot featuring Shaggy’s Boombastic.
Handmade production costs more and takes longer than generated footage. For a premium brand, that cost now signals something to viewers. It shows that a person made the work.
Patient handwork can transform even the humblest material, and this paper model proves it. Single-Sheet Paper Becomes a Detailed Typewriter is a striking example of craft at small scale.
Small businesses can accept cheap AI flyers because they need only a basic result. Large brands have a different problem. They need evidence that the work was made by hand, and behind-the-scenes footage now serves that purpose as much as the final ad does.
Fashion houses have adopted the same approach. Hermès and Ralph Lauren name the people behind their campaigns in social media captions. Naming the creative team signals craftsmanship and suggests that human-made work belongs to a premium brand.
Apple has taken a similar route. It uses an embroidered logo and a stop-motion ad for Apple Games, made by the same studio as the Levi’s film. Interest in stop-motion may keep growing, too. Laika’s Wildwood has performed well at the box office.
Levi’s film makes a clear case. Viewers see the work in every frame, and the brand shows the hours behind it. In a crowded holiday season, that visible labor may be the most persuasive part of the campaign.
Source: creativebloq.com
Frequently asked questions
Which studio produced Levi’s Let’s Get Fuzzy holiday campaign?
Levi’s Let’s Get Fuzzy stop-motion holiday campaign was produced by the London-based studio Blinkink. The film opens as a horror story before turning into a festive comedy.
Why did Levi’s choose stop-motion animation for its holiday campaign?
Levi’s chose stop-motion to reflect its long history of craftsmanship. The brand has also made animated work before, including a 1971 psychedelic 2D short and a 1995 claymation spot.
How much work went into each second of finished animation?
Every second of finished animation required four hours of work. The animators moved the clothes for every frame so they would look natural on screen.
How long did it take to build the Levi’s stop-motion sets?
A six-person team spent more than 2,000 hours over six and a half weeks building and painting the sets. The crew built three cabins at different scales and 400 miniature trees.
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