NSPCC shows ‘not so Merry Xmas’

The NSPCC is flipping three classic seasonal tunes – including Slade’s “Merry Christmas Everybody” – to highlight the plight of thousands of children over the festive season and to raise funds for ChildLine.
The campaign, devised by WPN, will be led by DRTV across all major channels supported by direct mail, door-drops and out-of-home activity. The online display work has been produced by Flourish and train panels are by Open.
Launching this week, the initiative will run up to the last week of Christmas, and is inspired by classic Christmas music that is instantly recognisable with song titles including Deck the Halls, Wonderful Christmas Time and Merry Christmas Everybody.
However, to show a parallel Christmas lived by thousands of children up and down the country, the song titles are flipped to show… “Tis the season to be bullied” and “Simply having a miserable Christmas time”.
The NSPCC says that while most households in the UK are planning their festivities, lunches and waiting to watch kids open presents, there will be many children subjected to abuse, frightened and neglected.
The charity expects to receive 80,000 calls from children to ChildLine across December, and this figure could rise given the greater awareness this year of hidden abuse.
The campaign appeals for much needed funds to help the NSPCC keep ChildLine open.
Merry Christmas Everybody has been recorded by rising star Ella Walker, with the support of Hometown Records, with Slade frontman Noddy Holder – a long-term supporter of the NSPCC and publishing company Barn Publishing waiving all royalties.
NSPCC head of individual Amanda Mitchell-Francombe said: “This will be the biggest multichannel NSPCC Christmas Appeal for many years and we’re really excited by it. We’re particularly proud of this campaign and the work done by WPN to bring about an engaging yet cost effective TV commercial to rival the high budget Christmas ads on screen this year.”