Preymaker Unwraps the Making of Mercedes-Benz 'Holiday Love Celebration' Campaign

The Mercedes-Benz 'Holiday Love Celebration' Christmas campaign features a hip modern version of Santa Claus and his wife – 'Mr. Claus' and 'Mrs. C,' who forgo the traditional team of reindeer for a sleek team of Mercedes-Benz vehicles. From agency Merkley+Partners and directed by Peter Thwaites of The Corner Shop, 'Substitute' depicts Santa feeling under the weather and a very capable Mrs. C stepping in to save the day, and 'PTO' features the happy couple about to begin a lavish summer holiday before being rerouted to Timmy’s house to deliver a forgotten Christmas gift.

The campaign hits all the right notes with exemplary casting, performance, cinematography and styling, along with seamless visual effects and a warm, sumptuous look delivered in collaboration with creative + technology company Preymaker.

LBB talked with the Preymaker team about the VFX and grade which helped bring the campaign to life.

LBB> We understand the campaign was filmed in the Los Angeles area. But you had to deliver a wintry landscape for 'Substitute.' How did Preymaker help Peter Thwaites create a wintery landscape?

Preymaker’s Jacob Weeks (production)> The driving sequence was shot day-for-night, so we could have as much detail as possible from the car to play with. We worked with Peter to ensure that as much could be captured practically as possible. The road was dressed with fake snow, extending outwards about six feet on either side, so we could capture the contact point of the wheels and the road practically and seamlessly integrate the CG landscape.

LBB> Can you elaborate more about creating that snowy landscape in post? What were the biggest challenges ensuring the winter wonderland was believable?

Preymaker’s Tobey Lindback (creative/compositing): Although the spot appears to have been filmed in a snowy environment, almost the entire winter landscape was created by our team at Preymaker. We created a wide range of snowy style frames, which helped us quickly explore scale, density, lighting and overall mood. Once a look was established, we crafted the VFX - building CG landscapes, adding snow coverage and integrating snowy vegetation. A key part of making the environment feel believable was preserving and enhancing practical elements from the shoot, particularly along the road where practical snow effects were used. By cleaning up, extending and layering snow into these areas, we created a seamless transition between the shot plate and the fully CG environment, grounding the winter wonderland in something tangible and real.

Preymaker’s Lauren Shields (creative/3D lead)> For 'Substitute,' a big challenge for the CG team was turning plates that were initially shot during the day into snowy night time scenes. Since we couldn't light to the plate like we traditionally do, actually building out our forests and snow-covered hills in Maya based on our concept images, helped us to set the mood.

LBB> Both spots - 'Substitute' and 'PTO' – share a warm and lush look and feel even though their locations are distinct. Take Mr. Claus and Mrs. C, who are rosy complexioned like we’d imagine them looking from classic Christmas specials. How much of this was HMU, and how much of this was touch ups and the colour grade?

Preymaker’s Mark Sanna (creative/colourist)> A bit of set lighting, a bit of HMU, a bit of touch ups and a bit of grade, a true team effort here! We pushed the rosiness a bit extra in the grade session as we felt it was an authentic element to the legendary characters and the story of the two films.

LBB> Both 'Substitute' and 'PTO' really pop with colour. What were the objectives for setting the look?

Preymaker’s Mark Sanna (creative/colourist)> Hoyte van Hoytema was the DP for both spots. Preymaker was involved at the very onset of the project, and as a result, the team had a few key visual references of where we wanted each environment to land in terms of an overall look and feel well before the grade session.

For 'Substitute,' it was a rich, cosy warmth for the interiors, with particular attention paid to the candles and interior lighting sources. We wanted these interior lights to feel quite soft, scattered and dreamy. The exteriors were all about moonlight. We drove in a soft silvery cool palette which would set the stage for the stark reds in Mrs. C and the Mercedes-Benz GT to really sing through the magical forest of the North Pole.

For 'PTO,' we transformed a cloudy day in LA to a sunny vacation paradise. We worked to drive in a lot more contrast into the images, we wanted to capture that hot sunlit almost nostalgic feeling you get when you step out of the car and finally arrive in a warm vacation paradise in the middle of winter. We worked in quite a bit of warmth into this palette, lots of soft yellows, pinks and reds, which sat nicely against the vibrant greens of the foliage. This would ultimately set the stage for our VFX team to transform the backgrounds and the skies into the final images that you see.

LBB> What details did you focus on in your work to ensure 'Substitute' and 'PTO' felt complementary in their look and feel for the 'Holiday Love Celebration' campaign?

Preymaker’s Tobey Lindback (creative/compositing)> We relied on a hybrid VFX workflow to enhance and unify the visual world of each spot. Crafting style frames of background environments and atmospheric elements, allowing us to quickly establish the seasonal look and visual tone for each film. The style frames served as a foundation for the entire project. Every shot was carefully rotoscoped and composited, with matte paintings, CG elements, environment extensions and detailed atmospheric work. Whether building snow-covered terrain or enhancing sunlit summer landscapes, conventional compositing techniques were used to refine ground interaction, depth and continuity - ensuring both commercials felt cohesive, natural and visually grounded.