Exploring the Folkloric Side of Christmas Storytelling for a Luxury Wellington Boot Brand
Christmas advertising has to be about commerce. Its purpose is to drive consumption at a time of the year when we are all predisposed to consume. And as a result, the ads can be quite a noisy bunch, shouting at you about all the pies, toys and sequined gladrags you might want to buy for yourself and your loved ones, all bright colours and jingle bells.
For Normandy-born luxury Wellington boot brand Le Chameau and London ad agency CALLING, a different kind of seasonal storytelling seemed the right one to pursue. “There is an underserved set of Christmas stories that are about our connection to the Earth, to nature and spirituality in whatever form it may take,” says CALLING executive creative director Josh Tenser. “They're just never represented. We are increasingly detached from ourselves and from each other. And that's a shame, because at Christmas, it is one of the few opportunities when we do still congregate and travel to see each other and attempt to be in each other's company for a period of time.”
That’s the spirit that ‘A Christmas Walk’ – the creative agency’s first Christmas campaign since its 2023 founding – is tapping into. It imagines the scenes that may unfold after giving the boots to someone as a present. In the durable style of Le Chameau boots, terrain and weather are no obstacle, and the ancient connection to the land that can be found walking in nature is available to anyone.
Crafted by hand, a design unchanged in a century and built to last a lifetime – Le Chameau is the only brand to craft Wellington boots from sustainably sourced rubber. A product born from nature designed to take us back to nature. CALLING took that brand heritage and brought to the screen a story of a couple choosing to go for a walk instead of continuing the endless digital scroll overshadowing our lives today.
“From pitch to concepting and the final edit, CALLING intrinsically understood Le Chameau’s heritage and our deep connection to the natural world,” said Le Chameau chief digital and marketing officer, Aaron Smedley on the launch of the ad. “With our director Maria Lax, they have brought to the screen an intimate portrait of two people choosing experience over time lost to digital devices. A beautiful reminder to slow down and savour those precious moments this Christmas and one that we can't wait to share.”
Rani Patel, the agency’s managing director and founder, highlights the brand’s heritage in creating wellies that last. And in an age where many are choosing gifts with longevity, it’s great timing for Le Chameau to be putting out an ambitious seasonal story. “So this is an exciting time in collaboration and partnership with them,” she says.
“The concept is looking at the fact that these wellies can go everywhere. You can wear them in the city and you can take them to the sea.”
Narrated by the male lead reading ‘Song Of Wandering Aengus’ by Irish poet W.B.Yeats, it’s a familiar story of a Christmas walk. “There’s been a rising interest in British folklore and this inspired the story and the choice of the poem,” Josh commented in a statement from CALLING. “Folklore is storytelling that’s rooted in a physical location and shared through the community that lives there. It’s about a connection to a place and to each other. It doesn’t surprise me people are becoming drawn to this in our digitally saturated, overly convenient world. Even our stories are too easy to get hold of. Too easy to dispose of. The power of nature and the way it connects us at a deeper level is the perfect riposte.”
Josh hopes that audiences will feel that ‘A Christmas Walk’ is an alternative kind of Christmas ad. “It's about stopping the consumption of things and food and screens and getting out, finding experiences that bring you spiritually closer together, either to yourself or or to each other,” he says.
The film was created in collaboration with Finnish artist Maria Lax and Art Practice – part of the award winning team behind the Channel 4 idents – and a director of photography who shot half of ‘Baby Reindeer’, Annika Summerson.
All of that combines to make the ad into a refreshingly peaceful watch. Rani attributes that feeling to “the textures of the Yeats poem, where we shot it, but also the director and photographer, Maria – her work is renowned for landscapes and the outdoors.”
A moment of serendipity struck in the making of the campaign too, when the actor who stars in it realised that the poem he was reading had been read to him over and over by his father. “That evokes so much memory and emotion,” says Rani. “A dad telling his son this story over and over again. So I think what's been beautiful is all the different connecting dots around the creators involved in it and their individual contributions.”
Josh reflects on our human instincts during winter. “It's cyclical, isn't it? Christmas is equally a Christian and a pagan festival. It's all about reacting to the land, to the seasons and the cold, coming together – a communal reflection and raising of spirits. And brands aren't excluded from that. It doesn't all have to be about pigs-in-blankets and toys from John Lewis. We only ever tell one side of the Christmas story in adverts. This is like the other side of the Christmas storybook that’s missing from the conversation. And some brands can definitely play there.” Le Chameau is, and maybe this is the start of something.
