Albert Heijn’s rodent romance

Hares, bears, animated carrots – all manner of creatures and creations have been pressed into service to bring cuteness to Christmas adland over the years.

But rodents haven’t featured quite so much – until this Christmas ad for Albert Heijn. 

Created by TBWA, produced by Holy Fools and directed by Jelle de Jonge, with top post from The Ambassadors, the film relates the sweet story of lovestruck hamster Harry and his hankering for Sally, the rodent-next-door. 

“The best thing about creating a Christmas commercial is that you can use a more sentimental tone,” said Jelle de Jonge, “together with TBWA, we set out to create a mini-feature film, which created a huge challenge: how to tell a story from a hamster's perspective, in a limited amount of time, whilst also getting the viewers to connect with him.”