England and Manchester United footballer Marcus Rashford MBE teamed up with supermarket Aldi for its 2021 Christmas campaign which includes a strand supporting the forward’s campaign to support food assistance for kids in need with 1.8 million meals being donated to UK families in need over the festive period.
Rashford provides the voice and the inspiration for a footballing character called ‘Marcus Radishford’ in the food retailer’s seasonal campaign created by agency McCann UK.
The campaign is led by a hero TV commercial, which debuted on 11 November, which offers a fresh, comic and charming food-based twist on Charles Dickens’ ‘A Christmas Carol’. The spot tells the story of Christmas-loathing Ebanana Scrooge who is reminded of the joys of the festive season by Kevin the Carrot and Marcus Radishford (as well as a medley of fruit and vegetable characters like Tiny Tom, plus Peas and Goodwill).
The integrated campaign includes a strand which sees Aldi work with Neighbourly – which links businesses to charitable organisations in local communities – to donate its surplus food to local causes.
Rashford has public shared his own experiences of food poverty during his childhood growing up in Wythenshawe (Manchester) and through the pandemic has led a high-profile, 18-month campaign to increase the support available to vulnerable children.
“As a family, we relied on the local food bank to get our Christmas dinner. To this day, I remember queuing outside that building with mum; mum feeling embarrassed that she might be recognised. It is with that in mind that I’m delighted to lend my support to the Aldi campaign,” commented Rashford. “For many children in situations like mine growing up, there is very little expectation around this time of year; add the impact of the pandemic and the very least they deserve is a Christmas dinner.”
Aldi Marketing Director Sean McGinty commented: “Christmas is a time for hope, and we’re privileged to be working with Marcus, who is one of the most inspirational young people in the UK, having done so much in the past 18 months to help provide free school meals for children. At the same time, it wouldn’t be the festive season without Kevin the Carrot on our TV screens, and we’re thrilled to be bringing him back for the sixth year for his many fans, in what we think is his best Yuletide performance yet. We hope our campaign will remind everyone of the true meaning of Christmas.”
Neighbourly CEO Steve Butterworth added: “We’re delighted to be supporting Aldi in their year-round food redistribution programme and in their commitment to donate 1.8 million meals this Christmas. These donations will help a record number of families across the UK during what is expected to be the busiest year on record for local charities and causes.”
“It took nearly a year of searching in Monty Don’s library, to unearth this classic vegetable tale. A Christmas Carrot by Charles Chickens. Now everyone knows Dickens ripped off Chickens about 20 years later, but few people know the original story,” explained McCann Manchester CCO David Price (with tongue firmly in cheek). “A humble carrot takes a rotten banana on a journey to find turkey, pudding and the true meaning of Christmas. This is Kevin The Carrot’s 6th adventure and we’re really hoping that he, along with this original Charles Chickens tale, will be everyone’s favourite this Christmas”.
The campaign was created for the Aldi UK marketing team led by Marketing Director Sean McGinty, Marketing Director Adam Zavalis, Marketing Manager Jennifer Thomas
and Marketing Assistant Jake Garner, by a group at agency McCann UK which included CCO Dave Price, Creative Leads Andy Fenton and Clive Davis, Managing Director Simon Buchanan, Managing Partner Laura Mckinlay, Business Directors Jane Colbeck and Emily-Jane Brown, Senior Account Manager Cara Harcombe, Head Of TV Lucy Moore, Head Of Effectiveness Jamie Peate and Group Strategy Director Darren Hawkins.
The spot was produced by Psyop with Directors Todd Mueller, Kylie Matulick and Kyle Cassidy, Chief Executive Producer Justin Booth-Clibborn, Executive Producer (Live Action) Noah Goldsmith and Executive Producer Joe Maggiore, as well as by Riff Raff Executive Producer Tracey Cooper, Producer Paz Parasmand, Production Manager Charlotte Jones and Director of Photography Matt Fox.
The edit house was Marshall Street Editors, audio was handled by Wave and the sound engineer was Parv Thind.
Comment
This is the sixth successive year that Aldi’s Christmas ad campaign has featured Kevin the Carrot: last year’s ad campaign racked up over 5 million views online.
While Rashford himself has fronted several notable cause linked marketing initiatives in late 2021 including his ‘Search On‘ work for Google and BT’s book-based ‘Hope United’ extension, plus his recent Nike partnership ‘pitch and interactive mural’ project at Button Lane School.
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