Swindon & Wiltshire News
Oxfam’s Christmas Ad Goes Live This Week, Created With Bristol’s Happy Hour
Oxfam has launched its Christmas campaign ‘The List’ this week, with a moving new advert created in collaboration with Bristol-based creative agency Happy Hour.
The 90-second film, which went live on Monday, reimagines the familiar Christmas wish list as a story of community, kindness and care. It follows nine-year-old Neel as he writes his list, attaches it to a balloon and releases it from the balcony of his South London flat.
When neighbours discover the list the following morning, they come together to make his wishes come true – sewing, mending and shopping second-hand to find and create the gifts. But the advert saves its most powerful moment for last: rather than keeping the presents, Neel takes them next door to a young mother and her daughter.
The reveal transforms the film from a traditional festive tale into a challenge to audiences. It closes with the question: “If a gift could change the world, what would be on your list?”
Happy Hour, based in Bristol, developed the campaign alongside Oxfam after being appointed to create the charity’s 2026 Christmas fundraising campaign. The agency’s creative idea rests on a familiar assumption – that a child writing a Christmas list is asking for presents for themselves – before flipping it in the final moments.
Isobel Jarvis, account director at Happy Hour, said keeping Neel’s intentions hidden until the final exchange changes the meaning of everything the audience has watched. “The reveal connects that everyday kindness with a bigger question about the world we want to live in,” she said.
Matt Cooper, Happy Hour’s head of creative, said the easy version of the film would have ended with Neel opening his presents. Instead, he passes them on. “To recognise that others needed them more. Passing it on – that’s what the world needs more of,” he said.
Directed by Sasha Nathwani, the film was shot on the Loughborough Estate in South London. Oxfam Tooting and its weekly Sewing and Sanctuary group feature in the advert, with members knitting the scarf and patchwork blanket on Neel’s list.
The campaign arrives at a time when Oxfam says nearly half the world’s population still lives in poverty. It aims to connect the spirit of Christmas generosity with the charity’s mission to fight poverty and tackle the inequalities that cause it.
The advert is supported by an interactive digital experience, created by Happy Hour and implemented by digital agency Wholegrain. It invites people to create an alternative Christmas list, choosing meaningful gifts and donations they would like to receive and sharing those wishes with friends and family.
Options include a donation towards a fairer world, an Oxfam Unwrapped charity gift, ethical products, pre-loved books, second-hand fashion and pre-loved music.
Alya Al-Khatib, head of brand and creative at Oxfam, said the campaign invites people to look at their own lists differently. “By revealing who Neel’s wishes are really for, we wanted to invite people to look at their own lists differently and imagine what they might wish for in a fairer world,” she said.
The campaign is now live across linear TV and digital channels, including paid social, search and online video. It will run in 90-, 60- and 30-second formats, with media planning and buying handled by The Kite Factory.
For Bristol-based Happy Hour, the launch marks a major festive moment: a nationally visible campaign that turns a Christmas ritual into a call for generosity, community and a fairer world.
