Telstra avoids Christmas cliches for its 2025 campaign
Goth meets ghost: Telstra's Christmas ad
Telecommunications company Telstra has released a holiday campaign featuring a misunderstood duo — a teenage goth and a ghost.
Developed by Bear Meets Eagle On Fire (BMEOF) and +61, the platform builds on the business’s 2024 holiday campaign, and focuses on the concept of “finding your people”.
It uses a 60-second film that follows a teenage girl whose dark look and demeanor contrast with her family’s festive energy. Meanwhile, a ghost wanders through the neighbourhood, unintentionally scaring witnesses. In their loneliness, both characters cross paths, and after the girl puts a reindeer antler headband on the ghost, they bond.
The film is soundtracked by alternative rock band, The Smashing Pumpkins’ 1996 single “Tonight, Tonight”.
The duo also features in a 15-second film where they take a selfie in the girl’s bedroom.
Revolver’s Steve Rodgers directed the films, marking his first animated project. Animation studio Mathematic also contributed to the work.
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In an email sent to Mumbrella, BMEOF’s chief creative officer, Micah Walker, said the agency was not interested in repeating last year’s story. However, it was important for the work to have “a genuine Christmas spirit”, no matter how unorthodox it might be.
“This is the next chapter of the idea we launched last year — so we wanted to tell a different story about togetherness and connection, and not repeat ourselves,” Walker wrote.
“We thought it’d be interesting to see if that was possible with characters who weren’t naturally Christmassy, so it started there. We wanted an unexpected story, but with a genuine Christmas spirit.”
In a media release, he added, “We just wanted to create a story with a genuine Christmas soul, without leaning on all the expected tropes.” He also thanked Rodgers, Mathematic and Revolver for their involvement on the project.
In the same release, Telstra’s head of brand and marketing communications, Alita McMenamin, explained further what “finding your people” means in the context of the campaign. For McMenamin and the telco, it is about connection.
“At its heart, this campaign is about connection: the kind that transcends distance, differences, and even tradition,” she said.
“It’s about finding your people, whoever and wherever they are, and celebrating the joy of being together. And as a 90’s music lover the track works so perfectly with the gorgeous story.”
Telstra will extend the campaign into its stores through customer giveaways and retail experiences.
The telecommunications organisation is the latest company to release its 2025 Christmas campaign. Two days ago, grocery retailer Aldi launched its “Go On, It’s Christmas” platform, complete with a film that, literally, sees peoples’ pants fly off.
Last week, Myer and Westfield kicked off their own festive seasons with a Jamiroquai remix, and the “Creatures of Christmas” platform, respectively.
Campaign Credits
Creative Agency: Bear Meets Eagle On Fire
Partner Agency: +61
Media Agency: OMD Australia
Client: Telstra
Chief Marketing Officer: Brent Smart
Head of Brand and Marketing Communications: Alita McMenamin
Senior Marketing Specialist: Dene MacKenzie
Senior Marketing Specialist: Dominique Barlow
Head of Consumer Trading: Stephanie Fredericks
Senior Marketing Specialist: Kelly Georgiou
Retail Marketing Specialist: Tamara Saleh
Media & Marketing Operations Lead: Paula Marreiros
Senior Media Specialist: Robbie AoukarProduction Company: Revolver
Director: Steve Rogers
Managing Director / Co-owner: Michael Ritchie
Executive Producer / Partner + Producer: Pip Smart
Director of Photography, Animation: Daniel Landin
Production Designer: Steven Jones-Evans
Editor: Jack HutchingsAnimation: Mathematic
Executive Creative Producer: Rebecca Rice
VFX post producer: Jérémy Dumetre
VFX Coordinator: Chiara La Selva
VFX Supervisor: Julien Lambert
Mathematic CD, Animation Director+ Lead Animator: Paul Lavau
Lead Environment Artist: Yann Glica
Lighting Artist: David Labelle
Lead Compositing: Édouard Koen
Flame Artist: Fred BrandonSound House: Rumble Studios
Lead Sound Designer: Tone Aston
Sound Designer: Daniel William
Sound EP: Michael GieMusic Supervision: Anton Trailer
Additional Post Production: Arc
Merch Photography: Danny Eastwood, Pool Collective
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