Comcast launched a holiday campaign for Xfinity cable during NBC’s broadcast of the Thanksgiving Day Parade with a two-minute commercial that features characters from Sing 2, a film from NBCUniversal’s Illumination studio opening Dec. 22.
The campaign aims to show how Xfinity brings families together. It also illustrates how Comcast brings its many of its business units together to support initiatives like a movie premiere.
Comcast featured characters from Universal's E.T. in a 2019 holiday commercial. The reunion of Elliott and E.T. drove more than 1 million Xfinity subscribers to watch the original 1982 film.
An animated film, Sing was about a group of anthropomorphic animals in a singing competition. In the campaign, Angie, a nurse, mother and dog played by Keke Palmer, tries to get home to her family to watch a holiday special. She leaves her Xfinity phone in the hospital, runs out of gas and winds up at a studio where the Sing characters are getting ready to perform in the special. Angie fills in on stage for Matthew McConaughey's character--who she accidentally injured--while her family watches via Xfinity.
Angie and her family were created specially for the campaign. The other characters from Sing 2 who appear in the spot and perform Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) are played by Taron Egerton, Tori Kelly, Reese Witherspoon, Scarlett Johansson and Nick Kroll.
The spot was created by Illumination.
“Xfinity is developing a tradition of creating exceptional content that celebrates the holiday season. Working hand-in-hand with Universal and Xfinity, Illumination was given the opportunity to create content that was rooted in the world of Sing and captured Xfinity’s holiday spirit,” said Chris Meledandri, founder and CEO of Illumination.
“With Sing 2 director Garth Jennings at the helm, the content introduces a brand new character who unexpectedly finds themselves expressing themselves creatively through song. It’s an honor to be able to remind people of the power of being together this holiday through the world of Sing 2 and our characters,” Meledandri said.
Other credits for the spot include Gilles de Lusignan, Dana Krupinski, Cameron Stevning, producers; Greg Perler, editor; Garth Jennings, writer and director; Bastien Laurent, animation supervisor and Benjamin Le Ster, visual effects supervisor. ■
