Burberry’s Christmas ad, the life of its founder Thomas Burberry, is a short film that plays like a cinematic experience, starring Domnhall Gleeson. Via Adweek:
As the Guardian reports, actor Domhnall Gleeson (who played General Hux in Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Billy Weasley in the Harry Potter films) stars as Burberry. Sienna Miller (of American Sniper and The Girl) supports as his wife.
Lily James (of Cinderella and, aptly, Downton Abbey) plays a fictional pilot based on the real-life Betty Kirby-Green, who in 1937 flew alongside A.E. Clouston on a record-breaking trip from England to Cape Town and back, wearing Burberry clothing in a plane sponsored by the company. (James’ character manages to get embroiled in a love triangle with Mr. and Mrs. Burberry, because this wouldn’t be much of a soap opera otherwise.)
Dominic West (of The Wire and The Affair) plays Ernest Shackleton, the legendary explorer, who traversed the Antarctic also while dressed in Burberry. World War I also features heavily in the film. Burberry outfitted some half a million soldiers during the war with trench coats, the light and water-resistant outerwear named for the Western Front’s infamous death pits.
Documentary filmmaker Asif Kapadia directed the ad. The production values are gorgeous—table stakes for a luxury marketer—and the company is smart to draw on its history, which lends some real significance to the narrative (and polishes the brand’s sheen), even as the story tries to cram in every conceivable trope in its rush to lionize its namesake.