Iconic Ads: Anuncio Loteria de Navidad – Justino

Since 1812, Spain’s annual Christmas lottery (Anuncio Loteria de Navidad) has been a national tradition. The Spanish people look forward to the Christmas lottery, even if they have to wait for hours in line to get their tickets. El Gordo, which translates to “the fat one,” is the world’s largest lottery jackpot, with rewards totalling more than €2.2 billion.

“Participaciones,” or “shared tickets,” are often purchased at workplaces, with friends and family, and in bars. In the opinion of many Spaniards, the Christmas lottery is the only one in which all Spaniards play, and if one wins, they all win.

The team at Leo Burnett, Madrid of Juan Garcia-Escudero, Jesús Lada, Ignacio Soria, Arturo Benlloch, Iñaki Marti, Zarik Ahuir, Javier Lopez Canle, Sergio Garcia worked on the commercial.

The concept of sharing came from a unique custom associated with the Spanish Christmas Lottery: winnings are split into tenths, and as a result, friends and coworkers often pool their resources to purchase a single ticket, increasing their chances of sharing the prize money. In the view of the agency, the campaign’s central theme should be “sharing.” – Sharing happiness with those you care about is the ultimate reward.

In 2015, they continued to push in the same way as they had in 2014 because they believed they had identified the correct area for the brand to focus in. The primary goal was to shift the attention and focus from self-centeredness/ selfishness to altruism.

The animation was used for two primary reasons. The tale is of a lone guy in an old factory with mannequins. Because of the animation, it turned out to be a sweet narrative. They did not want it to be overtly spooky. Second, they wanted it to be distinct from previous efforts by doing something entirely new.

Every year, advertising campaigns were done but  ‘Justino’ was the first campaign to break through to a worldwide audience.

The animated aesthetic was a major factor in the film’s popularity. Using the success of films like Pixar’s Up as inspiration, ad agency Leo Burnett Madrid and production company Passion Pictures devised the narrative of a night guard at a mannequin factory who plays pranks on his daytime coworkers endearingly and lovingly.

Even though it follows all the typical emotional Christmas ad paths (lone protagonist, piano music, feel-good conclusion), the ultimate effect is less sugary and more honest than many, many attempts by other businesses to duplicate that first collective tear over a festive commercial.

It was Joan Martorell who orchestrated Ludovico Einaudi’s “Nuvole Bianche” to such haunting effect. It perfectly complemented the film and enhanced the whole experience.

Social media activation was one of the new features. The “Fábrica de Maniques El Pilar” firm has its own Facebook page where it posted updates on its daily operations. Justino’s Instagram account @justino vigilante, allowed others to follow him in real-time as he partied through the night.

A year later, at the Cannes Lions festival, ‘Justino’ won the Grand Prix in the Cyber category. Judge Chloe Gottlieb, R/GA US co-executive creative director, said it was successful because it was “at the level of Pixar” while still being “not a TV ad placed on YouTube”.

There were more than 1 million video views in its first 24 hours, making it Spain’s top trending subject on Twitter and ultimately the fifth most popular worldwide.

With this campaign, lottery spending rose to an incredible 55 euros per individual, while sales grew for the second year running.