Who: Best Buy and Union, with Media Experts, Partners Film, Married to Giants and SNDWRx on production.

What: A Christmas ad (one of the first of the year) for the electronics giant, using the tagline “Holiday excitement starts here.”

When & Where: The ad started airing on TV and online, as well as pre-roll and social, on Nov. 7 (only 48 shopping days until Christmas).

Why: “The client wanted to capture that exciting moment when someone receives that gift of tech, while reminding people that Best Buy is the place to get that tech,” said Rica Eckersley, creative director at Union. There is a lot of holiday advertising coming, so Best Buy wanted something to stand out from the noise.

How: It’s essentially a commercial in reverse. The ad opens on the ecstatic face of a young girl who’s just opened her gift, and runs backwards from there to her father buying the present at Best Buy with help from one of the brand’s blue-shirted store assistants. “The rewind technique allows us to tell that story in a simple, visually captivating way,” said Eckersley.

The music: Like this ad released earlier in the fall, Union worked with SNDWRx to produce an original backing track for the Christmas commercial. “Since the spot is so visual, we knew it had to be scored, so we could capture a specific energy and highlight individual moments,” said Ekersley. “We also wanted to create an ownable track that would get stuck in people’s heads all season long.”

And we quote: “Everyone loves receiving the perfect gift and we believe tech is one of the most exciting things to open on that special morning… We really wanted to capture that real and genuine reaction of someone receiving an awesome gift, all while showing exactly where that gift came from.” —James Pelletier, director of marketing for Best Buy Canada.