12/18/2013​​ |Verizon News Archives​​ 

‘Twas the Night Before Stanley’: A New Christmas Tradition​​ 

Full Transparency​​ 

Our editorial transparency tool uses blockchain technology to permanently log all changes made to official releases after publication. However, this post is not an official release and therefore not tracked. Visit our learn more for more information.​​ 

Descubre más​​ 

There’s nothing unusual about putting a new twist on a Christmas tradition. In fact, it’s done all the time: Mr. Magoo as Ebenezer Scrooge.  Santa on a motorcycle. Lady Gaga singing “White Christmas.”​​ 

But now, there’s a new twist that is unusual.​​ 

Some of the creative minds on Verizon’s marketing team got together with four of the most creative minds on Instagram to update Clement Clarke Moore’s 1823 classic poem, “A Visit From St. Nicholas,” better known as “Twas the Night Before Christmas.”​​ 

The result is this 2.5-minute video entitled “Twas the Night Before Stanley.” It tells the story of a loving but frazzled gingerbread man (Stanley) who is trying his best to make this the best Christmas ever for his family by giving each member a much-wished-for electronic device.  While Stanley’s Christmas shopping is successful, he discovers on Christmas Eve that there isn’t enough Internet power in his home to make all of the devices work successfully. But thanks to FiOS, there’s a happy ending to this story (Isn’t there always?)​​ 

Four popular Instagrammers, who are known and followed for their creative work, were each assigned a segment of the story. Working with a set of props, including more than 100 gingerbread men, these artists -- Sarah Palmer (@heysp), Sam Horine (@samhorine), Jessica Zollman (@jayzombie) and Emily Blincoe (@thuglifeforevs) – helped to create a fun and engaging video.​​ 

“What makes this approach unique is that we’re leveraging the power of a set of four influential Instagrammers in a revolutionary way,” said Verizon marketing director Patricia Foster. “Each of the Instagrammers visually interpreted the segments, in the photographic styles the programmers have become known for.  These images were then combined into an animated storybook video that was narrated with an engaging voice. The language of the story, the visual images and the resulting video were designed in such a way to make the story as appealing to the social crowd as possible while still appealing to a broader audience.”​​ 

The finished video is now posted on the Verizon FiOS YouTube channel. Let us know what you think.​​ 

Related Articles​​ 

12/26/2013​​ 
Filled with anticipation and excitement, over 400 children, teens and adults poured into the Holabird Academy in Baltimore to kick off Christmas at a​​ 
02/15/2021​​ 

Virtual Reality (VR) has begun to transform medicine in profound ways. VR solutions are being used to train doctors and to plan and practice operations.​​