Lucky Generals and Havas Media Put Electricity ‘On the House’ This Christmas for EDF

EDF customers will unwrap the gift of free electricity this Christmas Day, and to bring the idea to life, Lucky Generals transformed a real house in Chiswick with a festive glow-up - no CGI, no AI tricks, just thousands of bulbs. The installation carried the message 'This Christmas Day, electricity is on the house' and was on show to the public over the weekend of 13/14th December.

The installation is part of EDF’s ‘It’s on the house’ campaign, created by Lucky Generals and amplified by Havas Media. The initiative will gift customers eight hours of free electricity on Christmas Day (08:00-16:00), when households typically use more electricity to power their festivities.

The social campaign went live on December 16th across social channels, turning the spectacle into a shareable moment, with OOH displays from 20th December making sure no one misses this festive offer. Customers simply need to register on EDF’s website before Christmas Eve to claim their free electricity.

A combination of social-first content, OOH and digital media presence will spread the Christmas cheer in a campaign that goes beyond advertising to inspire customer advocacy and engagement. Using GumGum and Teads for contextual targeting around sustainability and green living, it reaches audiences looking to reduce their Carbon footprint with EDF, Britain’s biggest generator of zero‑carbon electricity.

The campaign introduced the actual house in situ on 13-14th December. The social campaign went live on the 15th December, across EDF’s channels. This will be followed by OOH activity launching over the weekend of 20-21st December, with creative featuring imagery from the house anchoring the rollout. From that date, programmatic display and OOH will run in tandem, creating a unified takeover across digital and outdoor. Communications agency Tin Man will also amplify the campaign in earned media, including a media relations and influencer engagement programme

EDF is harnessing Havas’ Converged platform across their campaigns to integrate its first‑party data, optimising AV, digital, and OOH placements to reach audiences that intersect with EDF. By using platforms like Sky AdSmart and Amazon Prime, Converged enables more targeted, value-led communication with customers and a more sustainable and relevant campaign – both central to EDF’s brand strategy.

For this campaign, EDF has doubled its investment into Havas Media Network’s Sustainable Market Place and used Havas’ Carbon Calculator to measure media emissions. EDF is also partnering with Jolt’s carbon-negative EV charging network in London and powering DOOH with clean energy. Meanwhile, their campaigns also tap into sustainable targeting across DAX, Spotify, Acast (e.g., Climate Curious podcast), and AudioXi, further aligning EDF with climate-conscious audiences.

Havas Media has led campaign planning and activation to activate creative work from Lucky Generals.

​Nicola Collins, senior manager brand marketing, EDF, said, “On the busiest day of the year, when homes are packed with family and friends and the oven is on all day, electricity usage is much higher than usual. We wanted to give something back to our customers, so this year it’s on the house - on us. It’s a small gift that goes a long way and cuts to the heart of our commitment to create real value that our customers can feel and share.”

​Harry Robson and Gabriel Paul, creatives at Lucky Generals said, “AI can’t (yet) capture that Christmassy magic of a beautifully shot, homespun, fairy light display. By crafting something in the real world, we wanted to go beyond a mocked-up poster and make the house itself our hero asset. The photos then become the executions, allowing the simplicity of the idea to sing.”

Dan Holt, strategy partner, Havas Media UK said, “EDF is doing something refreshingly real that cuts through, giving back to customers in a way that genuinely makes a difference. Our mission is to help more people see and feel the good EDF is doing for its customers, and this campaign is a brilliant example of that in action.”