Stirred Creative's Christmas gift gladdens hearts

The video tries to capture the efforts of employees who chipped a little away from their expenses to bring some cheer into the lives of underprivileged children during Christmas.

The Bengaluru-based creative agency Stirred Creative launched a one-of-its-kind initiative for underprivileged kids this Christmas.

Titled 'Small Xmas', the initiative is a video created by the agency which shows how employees from the organisation save money by spending less during Christmas. The amount saved is then used to buy gifts for children from the Nirmala Shishu Bhavan orphanage, in a bid to make their Christmas special.

The video was launched digitally on December 23 with the aim to showcase the efforts of everyone from the agency who tried to make this Christmas memorable for the underprivileged children.

According to Deepak Joshi, senior creative director, Stirred Creative, the main reason behind this initiative was to do something out-of-the-box this Christmas. "It's a project close to our hearts. We were brainstorming about what we could do for Christmas when we suddenly came across this idea. We decided to give something back to society by cutting down a part of our personal expenses. And, that is how the 'Small Xmas' film was conceived," he says.

Joshi says that the entire staff got together for the noble cause. "The interesting part in the film isn't about how people from our agency save money for a good cause, but the way the entire office actually rallied together and generously contributed, which was what made it memorable," he adds.

The amount collected from the employees was over Rs 40,000, which was then invested in buying gifts for the children. The gifts included necessities such as eatables, books, medicines, and groceries, as well as other items that the orphanage required.

"The nicest part was to visit the orphanage and hand out gifts to the kids, and a cheque to the Sisters. We wanted the kids to come to our office and collect the gifts, but due to their inability to do so, we collected the money and handed it over to them personally at the orphanage. This project truly brings out the Christmas spirit of giving. Nothing works like, and nothing is as satisfying as advertising that actually benefits society," says Joshi.

The agency wanted the film to be initially funny and light-hearted but gradually take on a more sombre note towards the end. That is why the reaction of the kids was not added anywhere, which may have made it a more sentimental message which was not required by the agency.

The video was shot with a near-zero budget. Abraham Cherian, director, The Big Yellow Taxi (the film's production house), and who is also the director of the film, shot the film for free. The track used in it was free of cost, too. Composer Will Heikoop waived his fee as well, and just asked for his name to be mentioned in the credits at the end.

Nirmala Shishu Bhavan is an orphanage located in Bengaluru's Richards Town, which is run by Mother Teresa's Missionaries of Charity. It looks after 40 children, most of who are physically, as well as mentally handicapped.

When asked why this particular institution was chosen, Cherian says, "There was no fixed reason behind selecting Nirmala Shishu Bhavan. The aim of the initiative was to do something for someone else and it could have been anybody. We wanted it to be more of a great idea than a great film."

Cherian feels that there should be a point from where people should depart to start doing something worthwhile for society and this was ideally that point. He says, "We should be giving to the right people who really require gifts, and during this festive season, we found the people we were looking for to carry out such a gesture. The amount we saved was very small, but we gave out a lot more. Through this, we are looking back towards humanity."