Subway A/NZ has unwrapped its 2023 Christmas campaign, 'Cookiemas', which will run until 25 December across Australia and New Zealand.

The campaign, orchestrated by Subway ANZ’s integrated agency collective ‘Team Fresh’, puts a spotlight on Subway's cookies, transforming the sandwich giant into a festive cookie shop. The campaign features a mini film starring the character Elfie, a festive animated character.

According to Ryan Petie, Executive Creative Director at Publicis Worldwide, Elfie has a 'cheekier, more confident' turn this year.

"Elfie has become such a well-loved character within the Subway universe and this year we wanted to really up the ante in terms of her personal agency,” Petie said. “We’ve injected Elfie with that undeniable lead-character-energy, channelling the cool confidence of Lara Croft and the inspirational grit of Sam Kerr to show just how far Elfie will go to get her hands on the most soft and deliciously gooey Christmas cookie."

Subway’s Director of Marketing for Australia and New Zealand, Rodica Titeica, said Subway sells more than 50 million cookies across Australia and New Zealand each year.

"In many respects, we’re as much a cookie shop as we are a sandwich shop," she said. "The equity and brand love we’ve built in our cookies as a category alone is something to celebrate and we’re proud to be putting them centre stage once again this Christmas."

As part of the campaign, Subway also launched a 'smallest cookie shop' activation in Sydney and Auckland to coincide with World Cookie Day on 4 December, giving away thousands of free cookies to the public.

The 'Team Fresh' integrated agency collective, responsible for delivering the 'Cookiemas' campaign, includes Publicis Worldwide Brisbane (creative), Zenith (media), Haeday (retail performance), and Aruga (PR).