• by Sarah Mahoney  @mahoney_sarah, November 4, 2024

Amazon is tugging at the holiday’s heartstrings again, releasing an ad that builds on its reputation of seasonal sweetness.

“Midnight Opus” features the employees of a theater. When they discover their cleaner can sing (and boy, can he sing), they conspire to give him the spotlight, if only for one song.

The anthemic spot is a departure from the company’s annual holiday tearjerkers, which typically focus on close personal relationships, such as friendships, neighbors and families.

Jo Shoesmith, global chief creative officer at Amazon, tells Marketing Daily why the company  decided to focus on workplace friendships this year. “This story crossed generations and went beyond typical friend groups and hadn’t been told before,” she says via email. “The joy people can find in 'families’ or relationships outside their homes is what the holidays are all about. We loved the idea of peeking through a window into a person’s 'work family’ and finding that joy.”

She says the team settled on the 1965 Bacharach-David classic "What the World Needs Now Is Love" for several reasons. “As with the Beatles in last year’s holiday ad 'Joy Ride,' we were looking for something well-known and well-loved around the world,” she says, “and something that would connect with people at this time of year. We also wanted the song to acknowledge the unique pressures of the season. Our final choice of 'What the world needs now’ felt perfect.”

Amazon says the spot captures the spirit of workplace camaraderie and the importance of supporting others' dreams. “After all, no matter how chaotic the world may seem at times, it could always use a little more love,” she says.

The company’s internal team created the campaign in partnership with production company Hungry Man. Wayne McClammy is the director.

The 90-second version is already running in the U.K., France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Ireland, Austria, Belgium, Netherlands, and Sweden. Amazon says the ads will break in the U.S. and Canada Nov. 18, with 30- and 60-second versions airing on broadcast TV, video, Prime and social. Ads will also run in cinemas during “Moana 2” and “Wicked.”