Very pre-Christmas spot transports viewers to rainbow dream world of toys

Very and The Gate are enticing people to start their Christmas shopping early with a TV ad in which a baby flamingo (flaminglet) is transported from her mealtime to a world of pink fluffy clouds and floating toys.

The 30-second spot, “Daydream”, features two of Very’s flamingo characters. “Are you excited for your birthday next week, Coral?” Cherry asks her flaminglet daughter.

Coral looks at her plate, on which a pancake and pieces of fruit combine to resemble a teddy’s face. It winks at her and she is transported into a daydream world of rainbows, pink clouds and toys, from Barbies and Lego Lion King characters to Nintendo Switch handheld gaming consoles.

The action is accompanied by the upbeat melody of a version of Charli XCX’s Boys, but with the title refrain replaced with the word “Toys”.

The work, the latest in Very’s “Let’s make it sparkle” brand platform, was directed by Paloma Baeza through Nexus Studios and created by Joanna Cassidy and Allison Bell.

The film will be supported with three, 20-second product-focused ads and the campaign will run across TV, video on-demand, radio, digital and social. Media planning and buying was by Zenith.

The work was devised on the back of research by Very that found three-fifths of UK consumers think about Christmas in October, while half of parents are planning to spend more on toys this festive season than they did in 2023.

Jessica Myers, chief customer officer at The Very Group, said: "We are thrilled to launch our ‘Daydreaming’ campaign, centred around our ‘Let’s make it sparkle’ proposition. We know how important Christmas is to our families and our latest toys campaign showcases an array of the most anticipated and popular toys and brands for 2024, curated by our category specialists. Plus, to bring the campaign to life even further, we will be making our first foray into merchandising our brand characters with the launch of two plushies, including the star of this campaign, Coral the flaminglet.

“Here at Very, we’re passionate about making Christmas the most magical time possible for customers, and our insights show our families plan early, so we want to help celebrate and enable that sense of joy ahead of the festive period.”

Antonio Gizzonio and Maisie Willis, creative directors at The Gate, added: ”The brief was to communicate that Very sell an array of brilliant toys while cutting through the abundance of toys ads which are pushed out over the festive period. 'Daydreaming' unapologetically does that, while still being incredibly creative and playful. We’ve gone inside the imagination of loveable Coral and seen how children daydream – who’d have thought flamingos like Charli XCX?”