Press Release | 05 Nov 2021

Vodafone uses Christmas campaign to help one million people living in digital poverty

The new advertising campaign supports Vodafone’s commitment to connect one million people living without access to the internet by the end of 2022.

  • Christmas campaign celebrates the joy of giving and asks viewers to team up with Vodafone to give ‘The Gift of Connection’.
  • New advertising campaign supports Vodafone’s commitment to connect one million people living without access to the internet by the end of 2022.
  • Ad campaign turns ordinary people into Santa as they prepare to donate.

Vodafone has launched its Christmas advertising campaign, calling on viewers to give ‘The Gift of Connection’. Focusing on the joy of giving at Christmas, the campaign aims to inspire the nation to help those living in digital poverty in the UK by donating old devices. Vodafone will add six months of free connectivity to devices donated to its Great British Tech Appeal, with charity partner Barnardo’s redistributing them to disadvantaged children and families.

The pandemic has highlighted the scale of digital exclusion, with the greatest impact felt by the most vulnerable in society. Around 1.5m UK households, approximately 6% of the population, do not have internet access.

In recognition of this, Vodafone launched its commitment to connect one million people living in digital poverty by 2022 through its everyone.connected initiative, and is taking this to an audience of millions with its Christmas campaign.

Bringing to life the nation’s generosity of spirit, the television commercial follows the journeys of a young man leaving his house, a woman on a bus, and a man cycling a city street as they travel to a Vodafone store to donate devices they no longer need – with their reflections magically becoming Santa as they prepare to donate.

The ad concludes with a girl applying for an apprenticeship, showing the life-changing potential of these donations, with the strapline ‘Together we can give the gift of connection’.

Max Taylor, Consumer Director, Vodafone UK said: “This year our Christmas campaign brings to life the joy of giving after an enormously challenging 18 months. We’ve created an uplifting campaign that harnesses the generosity of the nation at Christmas. We want to invite people to join our quest to tackle digital poverty and do so with a motivational and positive message.

Our campaign gives people an easy way to help someone in need, and we hope many will find their inner-Santa and join us in our pledge to connect one million people by the end of 2022.”

Barnardo’s interim CEO Michelle Lee-Izu said: “Many vulnerable children who don’t have devices or affordable internet face huge barriers in accessing education and vital support services. At Barnardo’s, we support some of the UKs most vulnerable children, and are working with Vodafone UK to support children and families living in digital poverty. As some people upgrade their digital devices this Christmas, we are asking them to consider donating any pre-loved devices to our Great British Tech Appeal so we can get much-needed technology into the hands of disadvantaged children.”

The fully integrated, multi-touchpoint campaign – including TV, radio, PR and social – will run until 26 December and will be supported by a partnership with ITV. The TV campaign will debut on the evening of 5 November 2021 with a 30 second ad and will run in a number of spots, including ITV’s I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!, World Cup Qualifiers England V San Marino and England V Albania, as well as the Autumn Nations Rugby and Extraordinary Extensions on Channel 4.

Vodafone has a range of projects and partnerships underway to tackle digital exclusion and connect one million people by the end of 2022.

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About Vodafone UK

Vodafone UK is a technology communications company that connects people, businesses and devices to help our customers benefit from digital innovation. Our services span mobile, fixed-line connections, home and office broadband, and the Internet of Things (IoT).

We have a strong track record as a tech pioneer, making the UK’s first mobile phone call, sending the first text message, and making the UK’s first live holographic call using 5G in 2018. We were the first to start carrying live 5G traffic from a site in Salford, Greater Manchester and now have 5G in locations across Germany, Ireland, Italy, Spain as well as the UK. Meanwhile, our 4G network coverage currently reaches over 99% of the UK population.

Today, Vodafone serves more than 18 million mobile and fixed-line customers in the UK. Vodafone is the largest provider of full fibre in the UK – our superfast broadband services are now available to nearly 12 million homes across the UK.

Sustainability is also at the heart of what we do: as of 1 July 2021, 100% of the grid electricity we use in the UK is certified to be from renewable sources.

For more information about Vodafone UK, please visit: www.vodafone.co.uk.

Vodafone UK Media Relations

Telephone: +44 (0) 1635 693 693

Email: ukmediarelations@vodafone.com

Twitter: @VodafoneUKNews

Website: https://vodafone.co.uk/newscentre/

Vodafone Limited

Registered Office: Vodafone House, The Connection, Newbury, Berkshire RG14 2FN

Registered in England No: 1471587