In what has been a challenging year for all Australians, CADBURY is hoping to make Christmas a little more magical this season, through the exciting launch of its CADBURY Live Santa. In a world first for CADBURY, the brand will take its adored and iconic 2D Santa character and bring him to life in 3D via Facebook live.

Due to social distancing measures implemented across Australia, many shoppers will be expected to stay away from shopping centres this Christmas. This shift in behaviour means families nation-wide will sadly miss the muchloved annual Christmas tradition of meeting Santa. CADBURY’s Live Santa will help to bridge the gap, bringing Santa into the homes of all Australians.

Using the latest technologies in virtual production and motion capture, Australians will be able to interact with CADBURY’S Live Santa in real life, receiving an instant response to their Christmas related questions. Using the same technology seen in Hollywood feature films, CADBURY’s 3D Santa will be brought to life by a trained actor, skilled in mimicking CADBURY Santa’s facial expressions, movements and voice. The technology used by CADBURY for the campaign will remove the postproduction phase associated with CGI, allowing users to converse and experience Santa as if he were really on the other side of a zoom call…straight from the North Pole!

CADBURY’s Live Santa will take place across two days, Thursday, 26 November and Thursday, 10 December, on the CADBURY DAIRY MILK Facebook page – facebook.com/CadburyDairyMilk. During the CADBURY Live Santa event, Australian’s will be asked to join his army of Secret Santa’s; where volunteers will learn the art of gifting anonymously.

To celebrate the CADBURY Live Santa event, CADBURY will also launch a series of engaging interactive Instagram AR filters, allowing Australians to take their very own family portrait with Santa, from the comfort of their own homes.

Kathy De Lullo, Senior Marketing Manager at Mondelez said; “We understand that 2020 has been a tough year for Australian families. In a time where so many people have been separated from friends and family, we wanted to enable Australians to re-connect and help to bring some joy back into their household this festive season.”

“CADBURY’s Live Santa is world first for the CADBURY brand and we’re so thrilled and happy to be sharing this adventure with our Australian and New Zealand fans.”

CADBURY’s Live Santa Facebook event will take place during the following times on 26 November and 10 December 2020:
Sydney & Melbourne – 6:00pm AEDT
Perth – 3:00pm AWST
Darwin – 4:30pm ACST
Brisbane – 5:00pm AEST
Adelaide – 5:30pm ACDT