Friends share joy in Amazon’s Beatles-soundtracked Christmas ad

Three elderly women are the stars of Amazon’s Christmas TV ad “Joy ride”, which was created in-house and directed by Wayne McClammy through production company Hungry Man.

The 60-second film features no dialogue but engages viewers with a stripped-back cover of the 1960s Beatles song In My Life played on the piano.

It shows the three women sitting side by side on a park bench in winter, looking wistfully at children enjoying sledding in the snow.

One of them surreptiously gets on her Amazon app and we later see her arrive with three sledges and helmets. As the three friends coast down the slope the ad flashes back to their childhood selves and the song swells into a 40-piece orchestral arrangment.

Ed Smith, general manager of EU integrated marketing at Amazon, said: “The festive season is a time when people revel in traditions, past memories and embrace their inner child. We recognise that many customers may still be feeling the impact of economic uncertainty this year and that is why we’ve focused on the joy of shared experiences in our new Christmas campaign. If Amazon can play a small part in helping customers share that joy, then we will be delighted.”

The arrangement of In My Life was created by Spanish neo-classical artist Nico Casal and was recorded in Madrid, Prague and London by sound branding agency DLMDD.

Sascha Darroch-Davies, co-founder of DLMDD, said: “We are always delighted to work on big campaigns with Amazon, but to be asked to create a Beatles cover for their biggest campaign of the year is pretty special, particularly following the launch of the group’s final song last week. What better time for the iconic British band to approve Christmas!”

“Joy ride” will run across the ecommerce giant’s major international markets including the UK, North America, Europe and seven other countries, in a media plan managed by Initiative, which is gearing up to defend its hold on Amazon’s global media account.

The ad will debut on UK TV today (6 November) at 8pm during ITV's Coronation Street.

Amazon is also planning to run three other “Joy is shared” ads to promote key sales periods like Black Friday Week, Cyber Monday, and Last-Minute Deals throughout November and December.