This film was a veritable high wire act involving a script that created custom lyrics to a well-known movie theme (Mission Impossible), and assembling live vocal performances from our actors sung on location in real London homes. In post production, we composed a new version of the famous movie theme penned by Lalo Schifrin, to include holiday instrumentation and dramatic flourishes and create a feeling of both warmth and tension as our characters navigate their nearly-impossible holiday gifting Missions.

Gifting is one of the most universal ways humans connect. But it can also feel intimidatingly high stakes, fraught with potential missteps. Some loved ones may be inscrutable—a dad who never wants gifts, a niece with strange interests, or twin daughters who couldn’t be more different. But with the added pressure of a holiday season marked by a weak economy and people working longer hours, finding a thoughtful gift seemed extra impossible. We needed to remind people Etsy makes finding a meaningful handmade or custom gift easier, no matter how impossible your gifting mission may feel.

Finding the perfect gift for someone can feel impossible - almost like you’re Ethan Hunt himself on a high-stakes mission. Set to the iconic Mission Impossible theme song, this campaign features panicked gifters sleuthing their recipients to brainstorm the ideal gift, with Etsy as their secret weapon. From a daughter with a dad who says “no gifts” to an uncle’s six-year-old niece with mysterious tastes, we crafted resonant stories to inspire people to let Etsy make finding the perfect gift easy.

Etsy wanted to position itself as the go-to place to find thoughtful, reasonably priced gifts without the usual panic. We were tasked with creating a global campaign for the busiest shopping time of the year—and needed to break through the typically saccharine holiday magic and reframe Etsy (which was known as a haven for crafters and vintage shoppers) for consumers. We dramatized the intensity of finding a thoughtful gift by turning the process into a covert spy mission. We wrote new playful lyrics to the tune of the famous Mission Impossible theme to convey highly resonant and relatable scenarios and challenges–and land the deep joy and relief of discovering a secret gifting weapon in Etsy.

To make these films feel warm and authentic, we shot on location in four distinct London homes. The singing was performed live on set, with lyrics purposefully overstuffed and tumbling awkwardly out of our characters mouths. We cast for believable characters who could convey distress and relief as they sang in a rambling off-the-cuff manner.