Xmas Gift Is “Rift” From PENNY, Serviceplan, Director Seb Edwards

One year after PENNY’s emotional Christmas spot “The Wish” moved people in Germany and around the world, and won multiple awards including a Grand Prix at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, the eagerly awaited new Christmas film from PENNY markets titled “The Rift” is now available online and on social media.

“The Rift” addresses the divisions that are increasingly running through our society, and implores viewers to encourage an open dialogue with their neighbors. The campaign is an urgent call to listen to each other again. A plea for fewer barriers and more empathy: a clear message, even beyond Christmas and more explosively topical than ever. The film was conceived and realized by the lead agency Serviceplan Campaign in Munich, and directed by Seb Edwards via ANORAK Film.

“Can we talk?” a boy asks his neighbor in the final seconds of the new PENNY Christmas film. Just a few minutes earlier, we watched him yell at her in anger. It’s a question people have been asking their neighbors less and less in recent years--and one they should ask much more often. War, COVID, the climate crisis and many other disagreements, large and small, have dominated discussions in recent years. Society is more divided than ever. Yet wasn’t Christmas supposed to be the time to reconcile?

The film uses powerful images to show the cracks that run through society: generational conflicts, racism, war supporters vs peace activists, cars vs bicycles, fear of COVID vs pandemic fatigue. The spot shows all this within an ordinary apartment block that is increasingly and literally being torn apart. “Silent Night” plays softly in the background, but all festive understanding of each other seems to be missing. 

Christoph Everke, creative managing director of Serviceplan Campaign, said, “We’ve loaded our Christmas film with cultural and social themes that really no one can ignore. Opinions clash and literally break an entire apartment block apart. The topics are taken from real life and portrayed so relentlessly that you can’t help but feel caught out. The film gives you goosebumps, a feeling of uneasiness and hopefully makes you rethink. I’m deeply impressed by the way Seb Edwards and ANORAK have brought our idea to life--and by the courage the PENNY team has once again shown in making a painful yet important subject theirs.”

The digital extension of the campaign seamlessly picks up on the idea of dialogue and makes it a reality. In cooperation with the Forum für Streitkultur and with further information material from the Initiative Offene Gesellschaft, the landing page penny.de/lassreden provides ten concrete tips for constructive discussions. In addition, from the time of the film’s release, Influencer and Presenter Jonas Ems will be drawing attention to the film’s conflict topics and how we encounter them in everyday life via his high-reach social media channels TikTok and YouTube.

The PENNY Christmas film can be viewed on the PENNY YouTube, Facebook and Instagram channels starting today and will also be shown in full length in German cinemas. It will be accompanied by extensive campaign assets: digital and print, paid and owned, out of home and in PENNY’s own advertising materials. Since Nov. 7, the first emotional preview videos have been live on social media.