Move over, Love Actually. The epic romantic comedy set to win hearts this Christmas comes from an unexpected source: the U.K.’s National Lottery. 

The largest-ever Christmas campaign from National Lottery operator Camelot is about the magic of luck, drawing an obvious parallel between winning the lottery and falling in love. Created by agency adam&eveDDB, the three-and-a-half-minute commercial begins where many great love stories have blossomed before: on a train. 

When two strangers traveling home for Christmas randomly sit next to each other on a crowded train, their spark is instant. But when the woman reaches her stop, the two scramble to exchange numbers before the train leaves the platform. Finally, the man manages to write down his number on a lottery ticket and toss it through the window. 

Unfortunately, when she arrives at her family’s house, she realizes the ticket is damp, and part of the number has been smudged. Then ensues a chase for her to find the mysterious stranger, while in the background, the news reports on an unclaimed winning lottery ticket worth millions. 

The woman remembers his invitation to a New Year’s Eve party, so out of desperation, she returns to the train station and travels back home. By complete chance, they find each other at the station where they both started. 

“We won,” she tells him as she hands him the ticket–referring, of course, to the lottery as well as their reunion. 

The soundtrack is a new arrangement of George Michael’s Faith, performed by artist Sleeping At Last. 

Filmmaker Tom Hooper, known for movies such as The King’s Speech and Les Misérables, directed the commercial through production company Smuggler. Hooper has a personal connection to the advertiser: The King’s Speech, with which he won an Oscar for best director, received National Lottery Good Cause funding through the British Film Institute. 

In addition to the ad, Camelot will place photo booths at train stations across the U.K. and invite passersby to have their photos taken and projected on nearby out-of-home spaces.

“This latest campaign is all about The National Lottery’s ambition to bring people together. It also taps into the feelings of hope and possibility that we collectively experience at Christmas, showing that it’s always worth taking a chance to win big,” Camelot executive director Matt Ridsdale said in a statement.  

CREDITS:

Client: Camelot
Brand: The National Lottery
Executive director: Matt Ridsdale
Head of marketing communication: Anna McInally
Marketing manager: Sophie Morgan
Brand manager: Lauren Pinkus, Jayna Bacchus
Assistant brand manager: Lucie Pelaez
Campaign planning manager: Natalie Littlechild
Agency: Adam&eveDDB
Group executive creative director: Ben Tollett
Chief creative officer: Richard Brim
Creatives: Forrest Clancy, Jay Parekh
Agency producers: Nikki Cramphorn, Tristan Baker
CEO: Tammy Einav
Managing partner: Sam LeCoeur
Business director: Fay Taylor
Account director: Tejen Shah
Account manager: Zahra Ahmed
Global planning partner: Heather Alderson
Planning directors: Stuart Williams, Róisín Mulroney
Senior project manager: Amy Waldman
Project manager: Caitlin Fletcher
Designer: Scott Silvey
Agency legal counsel: Tom Campbell 
Media agency: Dentsu
Media planners: Niall McEvoy, Dominic Sadler, Sarah Francis
Production company: Smuggler
Director: Tom Hooper
Executive producer: Fergus Brown
Producer: Nick Sutherland-Dodd
Cinematographer: Steve Annis
Casting: Dan Hubbard Casting & Beast Casting
Editing company: The Whitehouse
Editor: Russell Icke
Editor asst: Steven Waltham
Post production: Framestore
Post producer Alexia Paterson
VFX supervisor: Pedro Sabrosa
2D supervisor: Ben Taylor
Colorist: Simon Bourne @ Company 3  
Music written / composed by: George Michael
Arranged & performed by: Sleeping At Last
Additional orchestration: Chris White
Produced & supervised by: Siân Rogers @ SIREN
Label: Music Alternatives 
Publisher: Warner/Chappell
Audio post production: Sam Ashwell @ 750