Barbour turns to Shaun the Sheep for latest Christmas campaign

Paddington Bear must be having a Christmas break as Barbour has this year collaborated with Shaun the Sheep for its new festive film, but once again the focus is on the heritage brand’s renowned jacket re-waxing and repair service.

The ‘Shaun the Sheep x Baa-bour’ animated advert sees good-hearted Shaun, Bitzer the sheep dog – and the flock of sheep - embark on fixing the farmer’s old Barbour after seeing a series of accidents on Mossy Bottom Farm which damage his jacket during a day’s work.

The story starts with the farmer clumsily shearing into his jacket with clippers, then forcefully ripping a hole in his pocket with a pair of pliers. That’s not all though, as he then catches his jacket on a tractor door - ripping a big hole in the back.

Seeing the state of the damage, Bitzer is worried that the farmer will get cold and wet, so he rallies Shaun and the flock to help fix his trusty Barbour. Chaos ensues as the friends set about re-patching his jacket with a crazy sewing machine. They replace the zip with what they can find on the farm  - in the form of old combs and a mouse trap - before re-waxing the jacket with dripping candles and an old rake.

Christmas day arrives and the farmer is delighted when he is presented with his newly repaired jacket. However, upon trying it on the farmer soon realises that his jacket will need professional attention when his fingers become caught in the mouse trap and the jacket splits in two with a sleeve falling off.

Luckily, a touch of Christmas magic saves the day when Bitzer clicks his fingers and the farmer’s repaired jacket, "lovingly restored by the experts at the Barbour factory", appears alongside jackets, hats and scarves for the flock, with the message that for some people re-waxing and repairing jackets might be best left to the professionals at Barbour.

Created by the team at Aardman, whose current animated productions include the feature length sequel ‘Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget’, and a brand new Wallace & Gromit film for 2024, using their trademark stop motion technique, this year’s seasonal film has been carefully crafted in their Bristol studio, "bringing Barbour to life on Mossy Bottom Farm".

Paul Wilkinson, Commercial Director at Barbour, said: "This Christmas, we wanted to demonstrate the importance of extending the life of our garments and we’ve been able to achieve this through our partnership with Aardman. Working with Shaun the Sheep and his friends, we’ve created a light hearted and engaging film that we hope will make people smile this festive season.

"With a Barbour wax jacket, age is no limitation and through our Wax for Life initiative, globally every year over 73,000 of our wax jackets are returned to be re-waxed or repaired. A Barbour jacket is like an old friend – it becomes part of your life and part of your shared experiences and memories. By using our re-waxing and repairs service, your jacket can last for a long time continuing to give many years of faithful service and, most importantly, reducing its impact on the environment."