An emotional Lari Raya for Julie’s Biscuits
Client
Capabilities
Date
14/01/2026
Julie’s Biscuits faced a unique challenge, how to continue standing out during the highly competitive Hari Raya season, while staying true to the emotional storytelling the brand has become known for. Over the years, Julie’s has built a strong reputation for cinematic festive films centred around family, forgiveness, and reconciliation. But with a growing fanbase and increasingly high expectations, the brand needed to evolve its storytelling approach without losing the authenticity and emotional depth audiences loved.
The goal: To deepen its cultural relevance and spark more meaningful conversations around forgiveness, particularly the often overlooked theme of self-forgiveness, while continuing to engage a broad, regional audience.
That’s when GOVT VCCP stepped in. Building on a long-standing creative partnership, the agency set out to push the boundaries of Julie’s traditional Raya storytelling. Together, they developed a narrative that would feel less like an advertisement and more like a compelling short film, one that could resonate across different audiences while reinforcing Julie’s position as a cultural storyteller in the region.
The result was “Selamat Lari Raya”, a bold departure from previous campaigns. The short film tells the story of Johan, a man haunted by guilt and a troubled past. Orphaned at a young age and led down a path of crime, Johan finds himself imprisoned, not just physically, but emotionally. His deepest burden is the guilt he carries over the death of his grandmother, Melati, whose presence continues to haunt him.
Blending suspense, humour, fear, and emotional depth, the film marked a significant tonal shift from Julie’s previous Raya campaigns. Designed as a “mini movie”, it challenged conventional festive advertising by tackling heavier psychological themes such as unresolved grief and guilt, while still anchoring the story in the spirit of Hari Raya, renewal, healing, and second chances. The campaign was rolled out as a hero film across YouTube,TikTok, and Instagram, supported by Julie’s wider festive product range.
The impact was immediate. The film garnered over 6.5 million views by mid April 2025, demonstrating strong audience engagement and widespread reach across the region. It also achieved an overall media performance rate of 175%, signalling that the campaign not only resonated emotionally but also delivered above expectations. Industry and public response further reinforced Julie’s positioning, with many drawing comparisons to the iconic festive storytelling of Yasmin Ahmad, highlighting the brand’s growing reputation as a creator of culturally meaningful narratives rather than traditional product led advertising.
Tzy Horng Sai, Director of Julie’s Biscuits, said: “As we mark our fifth year of Raya storytelling, we take our audiences on a self reflective emotional journey about familial reconciliation and forgiveness. Our film delves into the silent killer of unresolved guilt and grief that destroy family dynamics. However, Hari Raya is a time of renewal, healing, and second chances, and we show the importance of addressing the psychological barriers in our healing process.”
Aaron Koh, Chief Creative Officer at GOVT VCCP, added: “Unlike our previous Raya films, we wanted to deliver a wild roller coaster of emotions this year, blending suspense, humour, fear, and sadness, to resonate with people from different backgrounds. It was a risky endeavour as we have grown a large fanbase over the years, with a recognisable Julie’s Raya tonality, which we have now completely flipped for this year’s. This festive season is the time for forgiveness, yet self forgiveness, a powerful step to happiness and renewal in life, is rarely discussed. We hope that with this film, we can start conversations surrounding the subject matter and encourage people to reflect on themselves this Raya.”
