Berlitz’s core objective in the ‘Worst Christmas Carols’ radio campaign was to raise awareness for their language schools across the province of Québec. The secondary objective was to convince people to see Berlitz and language lessons as a great gift for others and not simply a service to use for themselves. The main challenge was to break through the clutter of advertisers buying media during one of the busiest retail periods of the year.

The agency arrived at the idea by leveraging a uniquely Québécois insight at a topical moment in time: people who don’t speak English love to sing their favourite holiday songs, despite not knowing the lyrics. So, to get Québecers (the only majority French-speaking community in North America) to consider gifting English lessons for the holidays, the campaign poked fun at their silly habit by having people sing Jingle Bells, Twelve Days of Christmas and Deck the Halls - three of the biggest Holiday radio classics ever - with lyrics butchered by francophones to remind Québecers that English lessons might be the best gift idea this holiday season.

With a radio campaign that was drastically different from everything else on the air, the messages were well-received and well-understood. English lessons and classes saw an all-time high during the holiday period (+112% vs PY) in the province, not counting Montréal, a mostly bilingual city.