The LEGO Group put its new Daft Punk partnership on screen in time for the holiday season.
Just 14 days after announcing the deal, the company debuted a Christmas ad featuring the French electronic duo.
Created by Our LEGO Agency (OLA), with Copenhagen creative shop Keep It Stupid Simple, the 74-second film is directed by Michael Gracey.
The director previously helmed "The Greatest Showman" and "Better Man."
Set to Daft Punk's "One More Time," the film follows a single LEGO brick through a secret holiday workshop.
Along the way, it encounters characters from across the LEGO universe, including Thor, Doctor Doom, E.T. and Derpy Tiger from "KPop Demon Hunters."
The production follows LEGO's Oct. 22 announcement of a wider partnership with Daft Punk.
The agreement covers products, content and brand experiences, with an official LEGO Ideas set based on the duo's 2007 Alive tour also entering development.
OLA's involvement also offers a useful case study in how brands organize creative work.
LEGO maintains an in-house agency while bringing back external specialists for major campaigns.
Genevieve Hoey, senior director of global creative at OLA, said the team wanted to capture the joy of giving and the temptation to keep a gift.
"Finding the perfect gift isn't easy," Hoey said in a press release.
"But that's the beauty of LEGO creativity. So many worlds, so many passions, and something for everyone."
"The only hard part? Giving it away. Trust us, we get it."
She also described the collaboration with Gracey and Daft Punk as a way to bring extra magic to the holiday season.
In-house creative operations and repeat agency relationships get the spotlight at a time when brands are reassessing who should lead their marketing work.
OLA Reunites with Keep It Stupid Simple for Holiday Season
The 74-second film opens with Daft Punk minifigures racing through the snow toward a glowing yellow door.
LEGO F1 ACADEMY driver Esmee Kosterman and Yeti characters join them.
Inside the workshop, a single 2x4 LEGO brick passes through several departments.
The Northern Lights, Heroes, Vehicles and Music teams each add their own creative contribution.
Thor, Doctor Doom and Mystique use their powers in the Heroes department.
In Vehicles, engineer minifigures and unicorns give the brick a racing upgrade.
Daft Punk then sends it dancing above a concert stage, in a direct nod to its 2007 tour.
The journey ends with the brick packaged as a gift.
The workshop crew struggles to say goodbye, eventually following it to a family's home and joining the celebration.
Gracey said he liked the idea of a secret world behind a door, where a single LEGO brick could connect characters from different universes.
"At its heart, it's an idea I've always believed in," the director added.
"That there's something incredibly joyful about making something with your own hands."
This is a returning relationship for the Copenhagen shop.
Keep It Stupid Simple also received creative agency credit on LEGO's 2025 holiday campaign, which featured Lionel Richie and a LEGO holiday choir.
The wider campaign includes seven 15-second films focused on Adventure, Discovery, Gaming, Nature, New Stories, LEGO Pokémon and Vehicles.
LEGO is also extending the creative into its retail stores through holiday workshops, interactive displays and building activities.
This shows how brands can extend a holiday ad into a larger creative experience through short-form content and retail activations.
LEGO Survey Finds 24% of Parents Buy Sets for Themselves
LEGO's 2026 holiday campaign also draws on research into how parents and children share the experience of building together.
A September 2026 survey of 11,001 parents across 11 countries found that89% wish they spent more time playing with their families.
Also, 24% have bought a LEGO set as a gift partly because they wanted to enjoy it themselves.
Nineteen percent even bought a second set to keep for themselves, and 11% kept a LEGO set because it was too difficult to give away.
This adds another dimension to the brand's message about the emotional appeal of building.
Brands reviewing their marketing strategy can take three lessons from LEGO's agency relationships:
Keep Reliable External Creative Partners
Brands should retain proven specialist agencies when their expertise complements internal teams and supports recurring campaign needs.
Keep It Stupid Simple received creative agency credit on both LEGO's 2025 holiday campaign and its 2026 Christmas ad.
Give In-House Teams Clear Creative Ownership
Brands should define which decisions internal teams own and where external partners contribute to avoid fragmented creative direction.
OLA's 2026 credits include global creative leadership, creative direction, strategy, production and project management roles.
Connect Partnership Rights to Campaign Planning
Brands should coordinate licensing, creative production and media planning early to get more value from major entertainment partnerships.
LEGO's Oct. 22 Daft Punk announcement covered products, content and brand experiences, with further developments planned for 2027.
LEGO's model provides a practical framework for combining internal creative leadership, established agency relationships, and partnership marketing.
Our Take: Can LEGO's Agency Model Scale?
The model gives OLA direct control over brand strategy and creative direction.
Repeat partners also bring established production relationships and specialist capabilities.
But repeat appointments alone do not guarantee good work.
Brands still need clear briefs, defined responsibilities and accountability across every partner.
We see this as a useful case for companies weighing the cost of permanent creative teams against the flexibility of specialist agency support.
The strongest model depends on the work, available talent and internal capacity.
This also gives LEGO a retail opportunity.
Its New York and London flagship stores are recreating the workshop through interactive displays and festive experiences.
The LEGO Builder app adds another layer through its Build Together feature.
It supports more than 1,000 compatible sets, with instructions split across up to six devices, depending on the set.
These extensions give the campaign several ways to reach families.
They also show why brands should assess agency models against the full scope of work they need to deliver.
LEGO's holiday film joins a growing roster of music-led seasonal campaigns, including Amazon's "Joy Delivered" holiday ad featuring The Beatles.
Need an external creative team to complement your in-house department? Explore these top creative agencies on DesignRush.
