Giants Come To Life In O2 Animation

England Rugby partner O2 has unveiled its first ever animated campaign, which sees the England rugby team turned into giants as part of the brand’s Wear the Rose campaign.

Launched ahead of the Rugby World Cup, the film – by director, illustrator and animator Elliot Dear – follows England rugby players including captain Chris Robshaw, Mike Brown and Courtney Lawes as they grow into giants through the power of support.

Watch the film at Sport Industry TV.

Over 12 months in the making, and featuring over 6,500 hand-drawn and hand-coloured character frames, the 2D animation was created by 30 animators who worked 18,420 hours to create the two minute call to action.

Nina Bibby, marketing and consumer director at O2 said: “Our film shows that whoever and wherever you are, the power of support can make a huge difference. We want to inspire the nation to help make the England Rugby team feel like giants and what better way to do that than through an emotive and patriotic animation that can appeal to everyone, from children to parents and grandparents. 

“So whether you are watching at home, in a pub or in a stadium, we’re calling on everyone to Wear the Rose and get behind the team. Tweet your messages of support using #WearTheRose.”

The creative will debut on television later this week, as well as in cinemas, and will feature across online, out-of-home and print advertising across the country.

O2 has also made an avatar creator where the public can play with face shape, hair styles and the size of facial features to create an England rugby-inspired avatar to use across their social media channels.

Other activities across the summer have so far included the O2 Touch Tour throughout June and July, the launch of a 50,000 official England shirt giveaway through Priority last month and the recent rebranding of all O2 stores.

O2 store fronts across England are being rebranded to Wear the Rose, with the ‘O’ from the logo replaced with England’s red rose.