That’s right it’s that time of year again. The decorations are going up, Christmas songs playing in the shops, The XFactor is on – and this year’s batch of Christmas adverts are filling our TV screens. For the past few years there has been a huge increase of the numbers of Christmas adverts put out to the masses and they are only getting longer and more lavish as the years go on. Everyone from John Lewis to Lidl want their part in the festive fight for sales – but who comes out on top? After very serious consideration these are my top five:
5. Waitrose
This advert can be described in three words. First. World. Problems. A painfully middle class little girl, in the spirit of Christmas, is forced by her smug teacher into helping with the gingerbread stall. We then watch the deep emotional trauma and pain this girl goes through making the gingerbread, wasting a possible fortune in expensive Waitrose ingredients in the process and looking increasingly more depressed as the advert goes on. Finally she manages to make some edible biscuits and to crack a smile as she delivers one of the emotionally loaded biscuits to the employee who helped her. Because shop assistants are known for their cheerful helpful nature right?
4. Coca-Cola
A classic. The holidays are indeed coming, but we are only ever truly sure when the Coco-Cola advert rocks up each year in all its fairy lit, red suited glory. As festive as ever, some people believe that this advert marks the beginning of Christmas and this year’s message of making someone happy fills us with warm fuzzy festive feelings. However with the number of creative Christmas adverts around in the recent year, this ad may need an update if it’s to snag the top spot.
3. M&S
Full of sparkle and glamour, this year’s M&S advert follows the fairies as they flit around on Christmas Eve advertising M&S clothes. Light on the celebs this year but clearly more effort has been put towards creativity as the whole thing is very well put together. Lacking the Christmassy message that other adverts put across, but utterly fabulous nonetheless.
2. John Lewis
The one we have all been waiting for. Hearts melted all over the country when Monty the Penguin waddled onto our television sets in his quest for love and at the equally adorable boy who finds it for him. Some may say sickly sweet – but I don’t care. It has all the hallmarks of a great John Lewis advert, cutesy cover of Real Love by Tom Odell and all. However although it’s possibly one of the cutest things I have ever seen, past John Lewis adverts have been ever so slightly better and had better backing tracks. But only slightly.
1. Sainsbury’s
Coming in at number one – this advert came out of nowhere and knocked poor Monty off his pedestal. While the John Lewis advert was beyond adorable, the story of the Christmas day truce of 1914 has won over the majority of the hearts of the nation. Despite the controversy surrounding this advert over whether it glorifies and exploits the events of World War I, I personally believe that Sainsbury’s have handled the advert extremely tastefully. Made in partnership with the Royal British Legion and donating proceeds from the chocolate bar to them, Sainsbury’s have commemorated this event and delivered the perfect message – Christmas is for sharing.
Edited by Mackenzie Orrock
Image sources:
http://www.culturepub.fr/videos/waitrose-the-gingerbread-stall/