Sainsbury's x the BFG - The Unexpected Guest

Following on from the successful and much-loved partnership last year, the latest instalment is a true Christmas caper, which sees the beloved BFG team up with new Sainsbury’s colleagues, including Annie. Together they navigate the arrival of an unexpected guest, the mischievous Greedy Giant, to ensure every plate remains full, showcasing the magic of Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference range in his iconic phizz-whizzing way!

Born Licensing was called on once again by New Commercial Arts to scope the new creative ideas very early on in the process and to agree on a new creative direction with the Roald Dahl Story Company.

As we are Roald Dahl Story Company’s licensing agents for advertising and marketing campaigns, we had the right relationship to manage the licensing process. This was crucial, as the project was post-production heavy and the schedule to achieve this had very tight deadlines. After negotiating the renewal terms, Born Licensing managed all other aspects of the licensing in collaboration with RDSC including the extensive creative approvals process during pre- and post-production.

Working with such beloved characters required a lot of attention to ensure that he was portrayed authentically. The Roald Dahl Story Company had to be kept in the loop across all creative development – this included the script, storyboards, casting, still poses and turntables, edits, and final materials amongst many other elements.

New Commercial Arts, Rogue Films (the production company) and Final Cut (the post-production company) re-used last year’s animation for the BFG, and worked together with us and the Roald Dahl Story Company to create a new version of the Greedy Giant that closely resembled the character from the original book. The campaign was shot in locations around London in July, using a character cutout for reference. A representative from Born Licensing attended the shoot to ensure they were across any real-time developments. The result was a beautiful and heart-warming Big Friendly Giant that brought to life the beloved magic of Dahl’s story.

After teasing a huge bite mark on 30th October, the BFG was confirmed as the returning character to make Sainsbury’s 2025 Christmas a “gloriomptious” one when the hero spot premiered on Sunday 2nd November to UK audiences. The campaign was broadcasted on TV, cinema, socials and radio, and also includes a cutdown for Comic Relief. The agency also developed impressive OOH billboards across the UK, digital assets and in-store tannoys.

The ad is once again a triumph of effectiveness: both the 90” and 60” films scored the maximum 5.9-Stars on the ‘Test Your Ad’ platform by System1 - an exceptional result that demonstrates how the BFG has become a “fluent device” for Sainsbury’s.