Christmas comes right off the heels of Halloween festivities with just-released Christmas ads
Even before the Halloween decorations can be taken down, three British supermarket chains — Asda, Argos and Iceland — have already unveiled their Christmas ads. Christmas ads are one of the many things that make the year-end season full of magical wonder and enchanting sparkle, all for one main reason: Christmas shopping and spending! And as wonderful as each ad may seem, it is actually a war of who’s ad is better at drawing customers; it’s no wonder why every Christmas ad we see seems hard to believe, yet also truly heartwarming and emotional.
Argos is set to broadcast a heartwarming ad during Coronation Street on ITV1 and Gogglebox on Channel 4 tonight. Its ad features a father and a daughter launching into a drum duet as the little house they are in slowly expands into a full-blown concert with a multitude of adoring fans as we are brought back into the 80’s with Simple Minds’ Don’t You (Forget About Me). The drum set is something the daughter wants as a Christmas gift.
Asda’s Christmas campaign aims to “make Christmas extra special”, centring around the people who go the extra mile to spread joy throughout the festive season and who make it special for others around them. It starts with a little act of kindness of a little girl, which is inspired by her grandfather’s stories, and which snowballs into something much bigger.
Andy Murray, Chief Customer Officer at Asda said: “We truly believe that with great quality products at leading price points, everybody can have an extra special Christmas with Asda. We know the most important thing for our customers at Christmas is spending time with family and friends. These are the people who make Christmas special and they are willing to go the extra mile to make sure the occasion is truly magical.
“This generosity is reflected through our whole Christmas campaign this year, from the wonderful spirit of Tilly and Jack in our ad to a beautiful digital storybook of ‘Santa’s Leftover Magic’ that has been created in support of our Fight Hunger Create Change Initiative. We have also doubled donations from our Asda Foundation to over £1m to support good causes over the next three months. This investment will see 1500 charities across the country benefiting from additional funding this festive season.”
Iceland, on its part, has shifted away from its low-budget ad of last Christmas, and exclusively partnered up with Frozen 2 to feature its animated characters before the new movie’s release on 6 December in the UK. That ought to get Christmas fans excited for a magical icy movie and Christmas shopping at the same time.
Last year, Iceland’s Christmas ad was banned from airing on television for being politically weighted. The ad, which was posted online and which became hugely popular — racking up over 6 million views, was anti-palm oil and featured animations of a girl and an orangutan who had lost his mother due to deforestation.
Lynne Deason, Head of Creative Excellence at Kantar highlighted that the risk of broadcasting of ads too soon is that it could result in annoyance and frustration for many consumers. She also added, however, that it’s a tricky balance because brands that arrive too late to the Christmas party risk missing out on valuable consumer attention and spending during the busiest shopping period of the year.
