Each year more and more retailers add themselves to the line-up of Christmas adverts, but does that have any effect on the ones that tend to always come out on top? Here’s our favourite picks from 2019!
Camilla: “I won’t lie, watching the Christmas adverts prior to the release of the John Lewis one, I was a bit disappointed. They didn’t make me feel emotional (except for the Dogs Trust one which did cause me to shed a little tear!)
But when the John Lewis & Partners and Waitrose & Partners advert was released my faith was restored in retail Christmas adverts! I am a big fan of Bastille for starters, so I really enjoyed the baking track. I also really loved the message behind the advert, supporting the idea that at Christmas time all of our troubles should fade away. Plus, who can look at Edgar the dragon’s adorable face and not feel warm (quite literally if you are one of the other characters in the advert!)
I’m not sure that anyone will ever quite manage to top a John Lewis Christmas advert, for me the release of these adverts is when the festivities begin.”
Louise: “I felt overall the Christmas adverts this year lacked feeling. I didn’t feel very Christmassy from most of them. I think the Very advert is lovely with a great Christmas feel and so is the Asda advert. The best one though is definitely John Lewis/Waitrose.”
Sharn: “I think I was expecting more from this year’s ads, but it appears as though many brands have steered away from an emotional storyline. John Lewis steals the show this year again for me with Excitable Edgar, an adorable dragon that just gets too excited about Christmas! The Dog’s Trust, McDonald’s and Very ads also do a good job of pulling on those heartstrings – which is what I think makes them that little bit more special.”
Naomi: “This year’s crop of Christmas ads feels a little like slim pickings… feature length adverts, perhaps trying a bit too hard to be the most talked about ad, yet failing to really hit the mark (for me anyway).
Following in the footsteps of Cadbury’s Share Your Words campaign with Age Concern, Very’s Christmas advert focuses on the ‘Get more out of giving at Very.co.uk’… Telling the story of a community coming together to give a lonely old man on their street a wonderful Christmas surprise. If there’s something we can take from a Christmas advert this year, maybe it’s to give something back.”
Nicky: “After being underwhelmed by this year’s ads, Homebase has restored my faith and given me a Christmas advert that every parent can identify with. The ad opens with a mother admiring her perfectly decorated Christmas tree. Her daughter runs in with a decoration made out of a toilet roll and cut out handprints and hangs it front and cconsumerentre on the tree. The mother looks horrified and as soon as her daughter is out of sight she swivels the tree around so the handmade decoration can’t be seen. The tagline “Let the festivities begin” the pops up.
I am of course looking forward to all the gems my 3 year old will bring home from pre-school this Christmas and I ‘promise’ to display them all front and centre!”
Lynne: “It appears that the majority of retailers are pretty much focused on products and commerciality this year, which is perhaps not surprising considering the tough retail environment. Thank goodness the John Lewis Partnership advert provides that emotional pull which is more the norm for this time of year.”
Our consumer PR agency specialises in connecting everyday brands with everyday people across four core sectors; Consumer PR, Food & Drink PR, Retail PR and Sport, Health & Wellbeing PR.
