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Some of the best Christmas adverts 2011
As the days tick by to Christmas, our TVs and computer screens are becoming filled more and more with festive advertising, some good, some bad and some truly bizarre. We take a look at some of the most memorable of seasonal adverts from this year to get you into the Christmas spirit.
John Lewis
The John Lewis adverts are fast becoming a Christmas tradition akin to turkey and family arguments. If you haven't seen this tear-inducing commercial, then you have been living under a rock in the most barren wasteland imaginable and if you don't have a lump in your throat after watching it, then your heart must be equally as arid and desolate. The fact that the makers have made us go "awww" to one of the most depressing of Morrisey's songs is probably the biggest miracle you'll see this Christmas.
Harvey Nichols
This has to go on the top of our list of favourite adverts. To a tinkly piano playing "Morning Has Broken", we see a procession of ladies of all shapes and size, worse for wear and clad in unflattering outfits making their way home in the early hours of the morning. The details in this advert really make it special, from the girl clutching her shoes and trying not to vomit, to another at a bus stop tucking into a burger with wild abandon. Witty, well-shot and with a wonderfully gentle touch, this is without doubt one of the biggest hits this year.
Coca Cola
"You know that it's Christmas when the Coca Cola ad comes on the TV". So said thousands of status updates and Tweets. The Coca Cola trucks have become global advertising icons since their launch in 1995 and the adverts feature a soundtrack that needs no introduction. Quite why truckloads of soft drink should signal the arrival of the festive season is not made entirely clear, but only a real Scrooge could dwell for too long on such matters when the addictive "holidays are coming" jingle plays...This year, they've even taken out the creepy Santa winking at the little boy at the end. Perfect.
Argos
These adverts feature a family of strange-looking creatures ('aliens' according to the advert, although we have heard them rather graphically described as a "family of talking sperm") who are experiencing Christmas for the first time and wondering at the ineptitude of human shopping habits.
However, one thing makes this advert slightly creepy. It is the final line of dialogue in the advert, when Daddy Sperm says, with Homer Simpson-esque appreciation "mmmm, eggnog" and Mummy Sperm replies "mmmm Beiber", implying that she is lusting after (17-year-old) pop sensation Justin Beiber. Plain wrong. That said, the line of them singing along to 'The Snowman' pulls it back a bit.
Iceland
Having given up on Kerry Katona, Iceland has turned to a contestant from one of those "Britain's Got X-talent" shows to be its new "face". Having finished a gig, the lass in question breaks out into a cover of Chris Rea's famous Christmas song whilst...Well, you guessed it...
Cue snow, bells, choirs, doe-eyed children, cheery Iceland delivery men and soft-focus shots of famously cheap edibles in quick succession. Pure food porn for those enamoured of party packs. All set in Dagenham; what could be more down to earth than that?
M&S
There's a real split in opinion on this one.
The case against:
It pains us to say this, but M&S seem to have lost the plot slightly with this year's advert. Viewers may be forgiven for wondering whether it is advertising M&S or Simon Cowell's The X-factor TV show, as it seems to feature at least as many shots of the contestants of the show as it does M&S products. I know that The X-factor is said to be struggling for viewers, but this is ridiculous. Having heard them mangle Disney's "When You Wish Upon A Star" beyond all recognition, you may well find yourself hoping that someone in the M&S advertising team can remember in which cupboard they locked Twiggy and the gang, so that they can let them out and get them back doing what they do best.
The case in favour:
Like the X-Factor itself, the M&S Christmas adverts featuring its contestants inevitably divide opinion. Apart from complaining we Brits like nothing better than looking down our noses at people/things...or in this case adverts. Attacks have come in about the ads bringing the M&S brand downmarket, that it doesn't showcase products in the same narrative style John Lewis has patented...but really most of the attacks stem from those folks who just don't like X-Factor.
The adverts are commercially (sorry) smart for appealing to a broader customer base and taking advantage of shifts in peoples' behaviour in these hard financial times (more families staying in/watching together). They are unashamedly glitzy and full of the spirit of Christmas and have resisted the temptation to turn the broadcast into a catalogue catwalk. It's time to be a bit less pompous about the Christmas ads and embrace a sense of Yuletide wonder...just like M&S has.
Littlewoods
There is a lot of controversy surrounding this advert - with many people even crying out for it to be banned. The main objection seems to be against "emotionally blackmailing" mothers into buying more expensive presents at a time when people's budgets are stretched and the country is still in the grips of the downturn. But then again, it is a Christmas advert and that is what they're designed to do, isn't it? Watch the video and see what you think.
The Range
There's nothing like a heart-warming Christmas story to round up the festive season and the adverts for home, leisure and garden retailer The Range really fit the bill. Utilising the best in home-grown talent, the ads are fronted by a genuine store manager, Malcolm. The concept of the ads are very simple; it would take too long to list all the things the company sells, so instead the charmingly funny Malcolm introduces us to the things it doesn't sell. In the television adverts, these include an American Christmas Translator and the Hungry Christmas Jumper. But possibly the best product never sold has to be Santa Grease, as heard in The Range's catchy jingle on the radio: "Grease up your chimney for Santa, his tummy isn't little, his bum isn't small, grease up your chimney or he won't come in at all." What isn't to like?
