WeRoad is celebrating Halloween by warning the British public against the very real dangers posed by unused annual leave, with less than 40% of us taking our full allowance in 2022 and 2023.
Developed by creative agency DUDE London, ‘The Holiday Reaper’ is inspired by an alarming survey in which the travel firm found that many UK workers were unclear about their company’s policies regarding unused annual leave, potentially leading to lost holiday time and increased stress.
Centred around a campy horror spot in which the ‘Holiday Reaper’ threatens to steal peoples’ unused annual leave, the creative warns viewers to take all their holidays, “before HR does.”
https://vimeo.com/1023265494?share=copy
“We wanted to tap into that deliciously retro 80s horror vibe for this campaign. You know those classic slasher films where teenagers make questionable decisions?” WeRoad UK marketing manager, Justyna Chlopecka said.
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“Well, not using your holiday allowance is basically the workplace equivalent! Our ‘Holiday Reaper’ campaign channels the classic 80’s horror movie, but instead of running from a masked killer, our protagonist is running from the scariest thing of all – watching their annual leave vanish into the void. It’s a tongue-in-cheek way to remind people that letting your holidays slip away is scarier than any 80s horror movie monster.”
The hero film will be additionally supported by wild posting executions across London and Manchester, encouraging Brits to avoid the Holiday Reaper’s grasp and use up all their allotted leave.
DUDE London creative director, Tomás Gianelli O’Ryan added: “When we discovered how many annual leave days were going unused each year, we were truly horrified.
“So, we asked ourselves: what would happen if we made this fact even more horrifying? Based on a true story (not from DUDE London, of course), this campaign taps into that familiar year-end email from HR asking us to “use it or lose it”. We hope The Holiday Reaper scares people enough to go OOO before it’s too late.”
