The idea was simple: create the perfect antidote to the oppressive heat of an Australian summer Christmas. Inspired by kitsch Christmas classic “Fireplace for Your Home”, a seasonal favourite in the US and UK that features an hour long episode of a yule log fire gently crackling away, we decided to recreate this as a scene much more familiar down under: a fan, oscillating, whirring and blasting virtual cooling air into Australian living rooms.

It’s a fan. Oscillating. For an hour. It was filmed in high definition, so it feels like you’re there. The addition of the glass of ice progressively melting over the course of the film demonstrated to viewers that this was one take, not a loop, and added some drama to the story.

We also gave it its own bombastic movie trailer tying it to other popular titles on the service such as ‘Narcos’, ‘Orange is the New Black’ and ‘House of Cards’. The trailer’s over-the-top pre-review ‘pull quotes’ such as “Fascinating … Oscillating” and “A whirlwind of excitement. I got chills. #brrr” set the tone for its reception by viewers, our social communities and the media.

Viewers responded with tongue-in-cheek reviews ranging from calling for Oscar nominations to critiquing the lead for over-acting (which explains the 4.5 out of 5 star rating). The trailer clocked up over a million views in 24 hours on Facebook, a 50% conversion rate from the number of people reached, and rapidly generated 5.2K Likes, 1.7K comments, and 935 shares as punmeisters jostled to outdo each other on the thread.

The story earned kudos from influential media such as Gizmodo, College Humour and youth culture website Pedestrian.tv. Instantwatcher.com even reported that it was out-rating the docuseries ‘Making A Murderer’, igniting a further flurry of press in the early weeks of 2016.

The film made such an impact that it's been released in other southern hemisphere territories such as Brazil and Latin America who share the same frustrations of spending Christmas in the heat, as well as on the US service.