Office Depot launches first holiday-themed AR ad on Facebook for ‘Elf Yourself’

Office Depot is the first brand to take advantage of Facebook’s holiday-themed AR ads with the launch of its “Elf Yourself” ad campaign on Thursday.

Why it matters

In July, Facebook began testing AR ads in the News Feed, offering brands the ability to use augmented reality camera effects for ad campaigns. Now that we’re entering the holiday season, Office Depot is taking the Facebook AR ad experience up a notch, launching the platform’s first “Elf Yourself” ads that let users animate themselves with elf-like effects.

“Over the past 13 years, Elf Yourself has become a beloved part of people’s holiday experiences. We can’t wait for people to delight in the experience on Facebook, and more easily share the joy of ‘Elfing Yourself’ with the people they care most about,” says Facebook’s North America sales group lead Eva Press.

According to Press, Office Depot is among Facebook’s first brand partners to try out AR camera effects.

Office Depot shared the following video on the brand’s Facebook Page to demonstrate how the “Elf Yourself” AR experience works:

More on Facebook AR ads

• Michael Kors, Sephora, NYX Professional Makeup, Bobbi Brown, Pottery Barn, Wayfair and King were among the brands with early access to Facebook’s AR News Feed ads when it began testing them.
• Facebook reported in July that brands like ASUS had experienced up to ten-times the engagement, on average, with AR experiences in Messenger.
• In August, Facebook introduced mobile-first video creation tools for advertisers to build video ads optimized for mobile viewing using existing images and video footage.

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About The Author

Amy Gesenhues

Amy Gesenhues was a senior editor for Third Door Media, covering the latest news and updates for Marketing Land, Search Engine Land and MarTech Today. From 2009 to 2012, she was an award-winning syndicated columnist for a number of daily newspapers from New York to Texas. With more than ten years of marketing management experience, she has contributed to a variety of traditional and online publications, including MarketingProfs, SoftwareCEO, and Sales and Marketing Management Magazine. Read more of Amy's articles.