How Stinkdigital is Taking John Lewis' #MontythePenguin into the Virtual World with Google Cardboard

John Lewis today unveiled its highly anticipated Christmas 2014 campaign ‘Monty’s Christmas’, a heart-warming story about a boy and his penguin friend in the run-up to the festive season.

Partnering with adam&eveDDB who created the campaign, Stinkdigital has brought to life the loveable tale of ‘Monty’s Christmas’ through the creation of an in-store immersive experience for children and adults. Visitors to John Lewis stores will be able to interact through a stereoscopic viewer that runs on the power of a smartphone. (Experience the story from your PC here.)

In this first of its kind virtual reality experience using Google Cardboard, shoppers are invited to join Monty and Sam on a seasonal journey that brings the 2D illustrated story to life in a 3D world.

Following the real-time narrative of Monty and Sam’s journey, users are placed at a centre of the story and are invited to explore each scene from the book in 360 degrees. Lingering on characters and objects makes them come to life; twinkling stars in the sky as you look up, Monty and Sam hide and seek, dodging snowballs and hunting for a near-by meowing cat.

Jax Ostle Evans, Executive Producer at Stinkdigital, said: “Taking the linear story book and transforming it through technology into an interactive in-store experience enabled us to extend the impact of this year’s campaign. Projects like these allow us to make innovation accessible and exciting for all.” 

Launched today, installations will be set up in 42 John Lewis stores across the UK where shoppers will be able to enjoy the experience in-store, as well as at home on desktop throughout the festive season.