Macy’s Wish Writer
Inspired by the true story of Virginia O’Hanlon, who in 1897 wrote a letter to the New York Sun newspaper asking if there really is a Santa Clause, comes a short film called The Macy’s Wish Writer for the 8th season of their “Believe” holiday campaign. Francis P. Church, the author of the paper’s response, “Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Clause…” has become one of the most famous newspaper editorials of all time.
Ad agency, J. Walter Thompson New York has risen to the challenge of boosting Macy’s holiday sales with this 3 minute film. Not only does The Macy’s Wish Writer tug on your heartstrings as it is delivered through the point of view of two adorable children, it also has charitable appeal as well. From November 6th to December 24th 2015, children can write a letter to Santa Clause and drop it off at their local Macy’s big red mailbox, create and send a letter with the Wish Writer app, or send a letter to Santa Clause through macys.com/believe (which is a very creatively designed site I might add). Macy’s will donate $1, up to $1 million, for each letter collected to the Make-A-Wish® Foundation. Make-A-Wish® grants the wishes of children with life threatening medical conditions.
Martine Reardon, Macy’s CMO, said, “The star of the commercial is the magic pen, and we were trying to find another way to get engagement. This idea of gamification is the way to do it.” She added, “It’s our twist of bringing something traditional and nostalgic to the modern way the generations of today work, which is on mobile devices and through apps.”
The final 3 minute video of The Macy’s Wish Writer will be cut up into 15, 30, and 60 second TV spots which will go live as of November 2nd. In addition, as part of the marketing campaign, they will also be selling a Macy’s Wish Writer stylus pen for $14.99 and Macy’s will donate $1 of the purchase price of each Macy’s Wish Writer to the Make-A-Wish® foundation.
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