Halifax bank is asking Facebook users to record themselves singing a classic Christmas song and add their effort to an online choir to raise money for the Save the Children charity.
Halifax's Web-based application will allow registered Facebook users to sing and record their own version of We Wish You a Merry Christmas.
Participants can then combine their recording with other performances to create their own choir, which will be uploaded to their Facebook walls, letting all friends know they have joined and raised money.
Halifax will donate up to £5 to Save the Children for each person that joins in; £2 for each choir recording, £1 for inviting a friend to get involved, £1 for 'liking' the app and another £1 for 'liking' an individual choir. The Lloyds-owned bank says it will hand over up to £100,000.
Douglas Rouse, director, corporate partnerships, Save the Children, says: "The online choir is yet another innovative fundraising activity that will make a massive long-term difference to some of the 1.6 million children living in poverty today in the UK."
Halifax has a long history of using 'real people' singing in its adverts, dating back to employee Howard's interpretation of Tom Jones's Sex Bomb in 2000. Howard and his fellow stars have had mixed success over the years, attracting much attention, albeit mostly negative.