Intermarché: Unloved
Intermarché challenged Romance Paris to move beyond price - driven advertising and establish an emotional connection with French families during Christmas. The goal was to reinforce their positioning by showing that quality food has the power to change lives and bring people together, targeting a broad audience seeking meaningful brand values during the holiday season.
Creative Idea
A lonely wolf earns acceptance by learning to cook vegetables instead of eating his neighbors.
Intermarché reimagines the big bad wolf as a lonely outcast who chooses to eat better to be accepted, using a heartwarming fable to position the retailer as a partner in personal transformation through quality food.
The Wolf Who Traded Meat for Artichokes
A Billion Views Without AI
In an era of generative shortcuts, agency Romance and Illogic Studios took a defiant stance by hand - animating every frame of the wolf’s journey. Senior Copywriter Victor Chevalier emphasized that the decision was philosophical, stating, "AI can’t create stories. We create stories." This meticulous approach paid off, as the film achieved a 5.0 Star rating from System1 - the highest effectiveness score ever recorded for a French advertisement. While the average French TV spot scores 2.4, this "fable" structure resonated globally, surpassing 1 billion views across TikTok, X, and YouTube within days of its December 2025 launch.
The Art of Narrative Restraint
The campaign is a masterclass in "slow - burn" branding. Director Nadège Loiseau utilized a hybrid format, sandwiching the animated fable between live - action scenes of a child being comforted. To maintain emotional integrity, the Intermarché logo is withheld until the very final seconds. Creative Director Julien Bon noted that the story focuses on an individual changing for the better, which shifted the brand's positioning from a price - focused retailer to what WARC described as an "emotional leader."
From Villain to Vegetarian Icon
The "Unloved Wolf" became an overnight cultural phenomenon, sparking a wave of fan art and public requests for a feature - length film. However, the portrayal of a predatory animal eating vegetables sparked a minor debate, drawing critiques from groups like the Bloom Association. Intermarché clarified that the wolf’s diet was a metaphor for inclusion rather than a mandate. This "food as a catalyst" theme continues a lineage of long - form storytelling for the brand, following the legacy of the 2017 "L'Amour, L'Amour" campaign.
Creative Strategy Deconstructed
Company
A legacy of emotional storytelling and a commitment to high - quality, accessible fresh produce.
Category
Supermarket ads often focus on price wars, festive excess, or generic family gatherings during the holidays.
Customer
People want to eat better but feel judged or find the transition to healthy habits socially isolating.
Culture
A cultural shift toward conscious eating and a growing appreciation for traditional, handcrafted artistry over AI.
Company
A legacy of emotional storytelling and a commitment to high - quality, accessible fresh produce.
Category
Supermarket ads often focus on price wars, festive excess, or generic family gatherings during the holidays.
Strategy:
Use a narrative of radical self - improvement to transform a functional grocery choice into an emotional act of belonging.
Customer
People want to eat better but feel judged or find the transition to healthy habits socially isolating.
Culture
A cultural shift toward conscious eating and a growing appreciation for traditional, handcrafted artistry over AI.
Strategy:
Use a narrative of radical self - improvement to transform a functional grocery choice into an emotional act of belonging.
Strategy Technique
Build a Brand Myth
Instead of listing product benefits, Intermarché creates a legendary narrative where food is the catalyst for social inclusion, elevating the brand's emotional status in the market.
Explore Technique
Creative Technique
Fairytale
The campaign uses a classic fable structure and handcrafted animation to tell a story of redemption, making the brand's message about healthy eating feel magical rather than preachy.
Explore Technique
Craft Breakdown
This campaign excels through its seamless blend of high-quality 3D animation and emotional storytelling, using a classic French song to create a nostalgic yet fresh holiday narrative.
The character design and expressive facial movements of the wolf and forest animals are feature-film quality.
The use of 'Le Mal-Aimé' provides a perfect lyrical and emotional counterpoint to the wolf's struggle for acceptance.
The synergy between the rhythmic editing of the cooking montage and the iconic French pop track creates the ad's most memorable sequence.
