8 Nov - Movies often serve as inspiration for ads, but not this time around. English luxury fashion house Burberry has delivered this year's Christmas ad starring Domhnall Gleeson ("The Revenant") which actually looks like a trailer for an Oscar worthy movie. So it comes as no surprise that the fictional biopic-style take of the founder, Thomas Burberry (played by Gleeson), has got the internet hungry for a full-length feature film. Also starring actors Sienna Miller, Dominic West and Lily James, the Asif Kapadia ("Amy") directed 3-minute ad called "The Tale of Thomas Burberry", captures the challenges faced by Burberry as he builds his empire during World War I, and his personal life involving his friend and polar explorer, Ernest Shackleton (West), and the two loves of his lives, his wife (Miller) and a lovely female pilot (James). Of course the Burberry brand is prominent in the film and its scarves and trench coats are often spotted worn eloquently by the actors who strut them dramatically in the brand's 160-year anniversary tribute. Taking things a few notches deeper in terms of its storyline, the characters in the ad are even based on real-life people who are somewhat connected to the brand via its plot. West's character Ernest Shackleton was a real-life polar explorer who led three British expeditions to the Antarctic, and in the film, is said to have worn Burberry for all three expeditions, while James' character is based on Betty Kirby-Green, a real-life female pilot who in 1937 flew from England to Cape Town, apparently dressed in Burberry as well.
Whatever it is, we would have to praise the top-notch casting of Domhnall Gleeson as Thomas Burberry. The somber mood of the glossy ad is further elevated with generous sentiments thanks to the "Ex Machina" star's presence who knows how to deliver a sympathetic character that audiences can relate to, even if he's making luxury coats and scarves that only few can afford.