Thanks to the second UK lockdown and the return of I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here (whilst in Wales instead of the usual Australia), it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas on the commercial front at least. Whilst living in a vicarage means that I and my family will probably not get properly festive until December 1st, the pandemic has meant we and many others have begun planning a little earlier than usual. It has also been heightened in my own household as we’ve started binge-watching The West Wing and many re-watches of Gavin and Stacy, well... One cannot escape Christmas special episodes!
So, with that said, and how I want to work in marketing, I’m writing this blog post on a number of Christmas advertisements from a selection of UK companies from this year and giving my view on them. Whilst this is an opinion piece, I hope that the post gives a sort of overview of this collection of adverts and how marketing is such a prevalently rich element of the commercialised side of this yearly festive celebration.
John Lewis and Waitrose
Usually viewed by the media as the beginning of the Christmas season, when we can all start to feel festive and think about what we can give others, the two brands have come together this year for one advertisement that celebrates charity, giving, love and the creativity of those who work within the animation sector.
With the tagline, hashtag and original song titled ‘Give a Little Love’, the business is asking customers and is itself giving to the two charities Home-Start and FareShare (the latter has been in the news quite a lot recently thanks to footballer Marcus Rashford). Although a lovely message and a great idea to include eight different animations from those who have found getting work hard this year, I wouldn’t say it’s John Lewis’ best ever. It’s very much a big step away from previous marketing and is a marmite campaign.
Tesco
To the backdrop of Britney Spears’ “Oops I Did It Again” (an absolute banging classic if you ask me), Tesco tells the British public that whatever they’ve done this year that there is ‘no naughty list’ so treat yourself. Funnily enough, treat yourself is a phrase that I think we’ve all been living through during the pandemic so it’s actually quite a clever marketing ploy. Created by BBH London, and off the back of results on various audience research surveys, the campaign is providing reassurance whilst truly showcasing a diverse country. The advert is the most inclusive of the bunch, with not only different ethnicities but abilities too.
Disney
In their first ever UK Christmas advert, beloved classic, and lead character in everything Disney, Mickey Mouse is the main star in a campaign themed on family and togetherness. It’s heart-warming and showcases the usual emotive plot found throughout the company’s storytelling model. However, I personally have had a love-dislike relationship with the legacy media company since writing an essay on it as whether creative or not during my undergraduate degree.
Mickey is part of Disney’s branding and the animation of the advert is likely to have been produced by Pixar, once a competitor of the company but now an acquisition bought by them in 2006. The commercialism of the corporation is also lightly dusted into the campaign by weaving in various products from across a range of the franchises.
Lidl
A nearly-fully animated advert (a first for the food retailer) that takes the absolute joke out of all other past and present Christmas advertising campaign cliches? You go, Lidl. With the tagline ‘Big on a Christmas you can believe in’ and a small dig at Aldi’s recurring Christmas character Kevin the Carrot, realism, value and quality are the main themes of an advert for a company that’s always breaking the rulebook.
Lidl is also being charitable with its launch of a ‘Teaming up to Tackle Hunger’ scheme, which allows customers to donate essential food items directly to their local community at the till and the retailer promises to match every donation made. The initiative is the latest phase of their ongoing partnership with Neighbourly, the platform which helps businesses connect with local communities.
DFS
I have never shopped with this brand and I usually dislike their all-year-round adverts but I wanted to include their Christmas campaign in my list as it features Wallace and Gromit. The loveable pair are characters that I and many have grown up with and, with Aardman based in Bristol, it feels only right to have them be a yearly part of our city’s Christmas traditions.
In ‘A Comfy Carol’, the thirty second advert sees Wallace and Gromit taking a new invention of carol singing sheep to several homes. However, Gromit starts to feel cold and get jealous of the interior. They are finally invited inside and the advert ends with them and the family of the household chilling on DFS sofas. It’s the first project for Aardman since the pandemic began and is just the loveliest thing.
Sainsbury’s
The supermarket has gone a bit all out and done not one but three adverts all around the same theme of ‘Food is Home, Home is Christmas’. Created by Wieden & Kennedy London, the adverts use home-video-style footage of families overlapped with audio of families reminiscing about Christmas’ past on the phone in the present day. Sainsbury’s felt they needed to stay applicable to the rapid change of Covid measures and, although sales will undoubtedly be a central priority, they wish people will have a decent holiday season notwithstanding any uncertainty felt.
Marks and Spencer
M&S have also gone different this year due to the nature of how the company has fared during the lockdowns. As more of their customers buy the food rather than the clothes and homeware, the food is the only section that gets a full blown advert; it’s created by Grey and is voiced by a collection of celebrities whilst donating money to a variety of charities selected by the showbiz stars and the company themselves. This is also their first year in partnership with delivery service Ocado, previously associate of Waitrose.
The above one is voiced by none other than the Queen herself (well, she does play the Queen in The Crown!) Olivia Coleman. The advert is the same as it always is with mouth-watering food and spinning crockery ala the Be Our Guest scene from Beauty and the Beast shot in its food porn style but given dashes of innuendo and spark by Coleman’s voiceover. The most her moment is when the canapes come up and she says ‘wow these are a little bit fancy-pants’! She makes the whole thing even more posher than it already is...
McDonald’s
Probably the most emotional for me out of all this year’s festive campaigns, McDonald’s is encouraging people to connect with their inner child and reconnect with others. In the fully animated advert, teenage boy Tom has an internal battle with the child within him and the teenager he wishes to express himself as – but, spoiler alert, the youth inside takes over as the advert goes on. The company hopes that the campaign will reignite magic and spark joy for its customers; whilst a little on the cheesy side, the emotion did get to me!
Final Thoughts
With all of that said, my favourite of all of these is probably the Lidl advert, with Tesco being a close second and DFS third. John Lewis and Waitrose is my least preferred. However, all the companies have done really well to at least bring out an advertisement this year and keep our commercial spirits up!
I hope you’ve enjoyed reading this blog post about my views on 2020 Christmas advertising campaigns in the UK. Let me know in the comments or on my socials what your favourite is!
Beth x