Sky Creative Agency talks us through its Patrick Stewart-assisted Christmas ad

Advent calendars, like football, green apples, and the music of Ryuichi Sakamoto, are objectively good. Who can resist the thrill that comes with locating a number on a box, pinching and peeling at a cardboard tab, and shoving a stamp-size bit of chocolate in their gob before Everybody Loves Raymond has started? Not us.

Evidently, the team at Sky Creative Agency shares our predilection. Essentially the in-house advertising agency at Sky, SCA has been handed the reins for this year’s Sky Cinema Christmas campaign, and they’ve brought Sir Patrick Stewart OBE along for the (sleigh) ride. Sadly one of Britain’s best (and baldest) actors only provides a voiceover. Still, better than nothing, right? Sky certainly thought so.

“We were incredibly proud to have been given the responsibility for delivering one of Sky’s biggest annual campaigns,” says Simon Buglione, agency director. “it’s a real testament to the quality of the creative coming out of the agency and the hard work of the team.”

The ad uses the advent calendar approach to intriguing effect. Rather than tucking into a teeny blob of cocoa, vegetable fat and sweeteners, the families hiding behind each of the suitably-seasonal windows are, in fact, settling in for a cosy night in front of the telly. What are they watching? Yep, one of the films showing on Sky Cinema over the Christmas period. Well, it is an advert after all.

Simon lets It’s Nice That know that, “Patrick has always been a big supporter of Sky and having seen some of the early treatments of the ad absolutely loved the concept.” Handily for all involved one of the UK’s most notable thespian’s had a smidgen of free time in his diary. “His voice really adds something special to the final ad,” Simon says, adding, “there were obviously several thousand other reasons that he ultimately said yes.”

When asked to curate their dream quintet of films to fill up a gloriously empty day when you’re stuck in the house with nothing but family and tubs of Pringles for company, Simon says, “We’d kick off with The Greatest Showman, have lunch with Avengers Infinity War, see out the afternoon lull with The Muppet Christmas Carol, pair early evening cocktail hour with Ready Player One and close out the night with Bruce, the vest and Rickman…yep, it’s Die Hard!”

Which sort of settles one of the more tedious debates you might have been thinking of launching after a snifter of port on the big day.