8 December 2025 Amsterdam — Dutch lottery brand Staatsloterij returns with its annual New Year’s campaign, this year titled “Give each other some luck”. For 2025, the brand takes a distinctive creative turn: a fully handcrafted stop-motion film, produced in collaboration with award-winning British animation studio Blinkink, globally recognised for the iconic John Lewis Christmas commercial “The Bear & The Hare.”
The Staatsloterij New Year’s Eve draw is one of the most iconic annual rituals in the Netherlands, watched by millions on 31 December. Over the past decade, the brand has become known for its emotionally resonant end-of-year commercials, often featuring animal protagonists such as a dog, a hedgehog, a cat or even a cuckoo-clock bird. These films established an instantly recognisable Staatsloterij signature: heartwarming storytelling rooted in connection and small acts of kindness.
After years featuring animals and real humans in leading roles, the brand now evolves its creative expression once more, embracing a crafted, tactile world built entirely by hand using stop-motion animation.
Human connection told through small gestures
Reflecting the campaign’s message ‘Give each other some luck’ the film follows a grumpy elderly neighbour, accompanied by a small dark cloud that mirrors his mood, and his equally displeased cat. Nevertheless, he accepts parcels for the entire neighborhood. And when a New Year’s lottery ticket is delivered to his home, he reluctantly sets out to return it. What follows is a journey through his street, where unexpected kindness from neighbours gradually softens his outlook.
TBWA\NEBOKO’s Executive Creative Director, Dennis Baars: “Each year, the narrative of the campaign is all about the same insight: that some things in life are more valuable than a Jackpot prize of 30 million euros. This year we created a nice little story about a grumpy neighbour, but we really wanted to tell it in a surprising way. We were convinced that the human craft of stop motion would elevate the storytelling”
The film’s emotional depth is further supported by a delicate new rendition of “Bad Day” by Daniel Powter, performed by German artist Lorena Kirchhoffer and composed by Jorrit Kleijnen, which underscores the warmth and fragility of the story.
One handmade frame at a time
To bring this intimate story to life, TBWA\NEBOKO partnered with Blinkink and director Joseph Mann to create a fully handcrafted stop-motion world. Animation director Sam Gainsborough was also brought into the fold to oversee the character’s performance from onset into post, helping to bring further nuance to the storytelling. Every puppet, prop and environment — from the miniature hallways to the protagonist’s drifting cloud — was built, textured, lit and animated by hand over several weeks.
Director Joseph Mann adds: “Technically, stop frame animation felt like the perfect tool for a story about community and togetherness, using a mixture of scales we managed to get the detail and personality into every shot. And honestly, our team made it what it is. I worked with an incredible group of makers and animators who brought their own craft and style to every single frame.
This project was pure magic. Stop-frame animation just never loses its charm, watching characters and entire worlds come alive in front of your very eyes is always a joy to be part of. It’s a unique process that is equally rewarding to be part of as it is to see the final film come to life!”
Following its premiere on 6 December, the campaign will run nationwide across TV, online, social media, radio, out-of-home and retail channels from 10–31 December.
