The Grinch hates Christmas. He finds festive merriment utterly disturbing, but despite all that this cynical fellow has become a Christmas icon. And in 2018 he would return to cinemas with a new animated film.

To put a unique twist on the holiday season, Universal Pictures and Illumination’s The Grinch teamed up with Mediaworks and THREE to create a fully-integrated and inspired brand experience using the unlikely Christmas hero.

The festive campaign was launched with the mischievous Grinch hijacking THREE’s channel idents. Various iterations were developed that had to be true to the VFX style established by the film studio, as he interfered with our world with impish charm.

But the disruption didn’t end there…

Radio interviews (featuring recordings made by the voice of The Grinch - Benedict Cumberbatch), 15” genre themed playoff spots, even THREE’S social media channels were not safe from the curmudgeonly character, who invited kiwis to vote in polls around their feelings towards Christmas.

The campaign was a great success, earning us top creative awards including a Silver at the ANZ Promax Awards for Best Partner Sponsor campaign.