The "A Christmas Story" Experience set, quiet and calm, the night before opening.
Parker 3D negotiated with Warner Bros. to obtain rights to the beloved, cult classic film, “A Christmas Story”, where it was developed into a fantastic, immersive, experiential Santa set that seemingly transported participants into the movie. The display reinforced the brand of this beloved holiday film, created a massive amount of social media impressions, and exceeded Santa photo and merchandise sales expectations.
The “A Christmas Story” Experience was installed at Cherry Hill Mall in Cherry Hill, NJ for the first time in 2017. It offered guests a nostalgic, one-of-a-kind experience that combined physical re-creations of sets from the film with an interactive, virtual & augmented reality mobile app that enhanced the immersive experience of the display. The end result was a perfect blend of artistry and theatrics, delivering an interactive experience that did justice to the movie and it’s loyal following. It became a must see destination for both young and old fans of the film.
Check out this 36 second "A Christmas Story" Experience video montage for a quick overview.
The traditional media and social media attention that this holiday display received drew families and fans of the film from far outside of Cherry Hill Mall’s normal “trade area”, which is approximately a 7-10 mile radius around the property. Cherry Hill Mall noted numerous accounts of people discussing that they traveled from multiple towns or counties away. Some even drove across multiple states to experience the “A Christmas Story” Experience in person after seeing one of the myriad of online articles and social media posts about it.
Parker 3D created a deconstructed version the of the iconic yellow and green childhood home of the film's protagonist. The oversized logo and infamous leg lamp in the window were instantly recognizable and people lined up to take selfies and photos of their families standing in front of the house even before they went in.
Parker 3D engaged with a PR agency to connect with media outlets and social media providers to schedule live on-air TV segments, written articles, featured social media posts and more. The results were as follows below... with hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of mostly local social media impressions through Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc.
Website Articles: Trip Advisor / Gizmodo / Yahoo! / NJ.com / Best of NJ / Cherry Hill Patch / Popsugar / Hello Giggles / NJ Family / NJ Kids / PHL Today / CBS3.com / KYW1060.com
Local TV Coverge: Fox 29-Good Day Philadelphia (Nielsen Audience: 85,005) / 6 ABC-FYI Philly (Nielsen Audience: 152,660) / NBC 10 (Nielsen Audience: 79,018), SNJ Today
Local Print Media: Philly Voice / Philadelphia Inquirer / Bucks County Courier Times / Burlington County Times / Doylestown Intelligence
Radio Segments: KYW 1060 / 94.3 The Point / 104.5 I Heart Radio / 105.7 The Hawk / 97.7 Ontario / Cat Country 107.3 / WMMR—Kathy Romano
In this photo you can see that there are many older children, who would normally not be interested in getting Santa photos at their age, and even adults with no children, who waited on line to experience the "A Christmas Story" Experience.
The display had massive lines from the first day it opened to the last. There's a lot of love for the film and people jumped at the chance to experience it first hand. Rotten Tomatoes, ranks "A Christmas Story" #9 in there top 25 Christmas movies of all time calling it “Both warmly nostalgic and darkly humorous”. This story has the unique appeal to audiences young and old across many different demographics.
A mobile app with AR & VR capabilities was available for download before guests entered the display to enhance their experience. Signs were positioned at various points along the queue to encourage people to either scan a QR code or text the word "story" to 797979 to download the app. Guests voluntarily submitted email address while downloading the app providing rich data mining information.
The first room that guests enter is a recreation of the kitchen complete with vintage era correct appliances and decor that match the film set.
In the kitchen, a graphic on the floor prompts people to use their mobile app to see an AR (augmented reality) version of the infamous scene where the Bumpus hounds steal the family turkey and ruin Christmas dinner.
Using the mobile app, guests center the target graphic in the middle of their screen.
A AR kitchen table appears with a cooked turkey in the middle of it. The Bumpus hounds enter from the side and immediately knock the table over and the turkey goes to the ground.
The dogs swarm the turkey a the scene resets.
Here you can see how the AR Bumpus hounds looked triggered on an image off of my computer. In the display's real kitchen set the table and the dogs appeared life size and the motion is a bit smoother.
Guest then move from the kitchen to the living room where they see the stairs that Ralphie embarrassingly had to walk down in his "Pink Nightmare" bunny costume from his Aunt.
Across from the stairs, in front of the window, is the notorious "Leg Lamp". The major award that Ralphie's father won in the film.Guests also encounter the family Christmas tree (with faux overloaded electrical sockets) and a vintage radio playing the “Little Orphan Annie” broadcast.
The photo provider had a professional camera set up in the living room next to the stairs to take photos of families posing with the leg lamp for an additional charge. This was a big seller and outsold traditional (non-Santa) family photo opportunities. That's me with my extended family! I'm second from the right in the back. One of the staff who was dressed up in a "Pink Nightmare" bunny costume even offered to get into the picture with us and acted out Ralpie's scene in the film, looking deflated here in our photo. She was a great sport!!
This mobile app target enabled a VR part of the app to be opened so guests could see themselves in the "Pink Nightmare" bunny costume.
Here's the selfie that my sister-in-law took. She's way too happy to be in the "Pink Nightmare" bunny suit.
Behind the house sits a scaled down version of film's "Santa Mountain" set. Due to ADA compliance, Santa had to be at floor level rather than on top of the mountain. That didn't keep kids from climbing the green stairs on the right and sliding down the bright red slide to the left.
To the great pleasure of many guests... The staff dressed up in reproductions of the "Angry Elf" and "Pink Nightmare" bunny costumes.
The cashwrap and some retail display fixtures were finished to look like the famous "FRAGILE" crate. "Fra-gee-lay... It must be Italian".
The leg lamp was also used on top of one of the retail displays.
One last look at the classic "A Christmas Story" logo on the back wall of the display to complete the branding from any angle.
