By Simon Wright - Follow me on Twitter @Siwri88
It is the time of year where the festive season is around the corner and it is time to be jolly. No-one likes a Grinch at this time of year. It is also this period where the shops go into overdrive as they launch huge campaigns to get us to shop on the high street or online and to grab our money for the presents you want to buy for your loved ones.
It is the time of year where the festive season is around the corner and it is time to be jolly. No-one likes a Grinch at this time of year. It is also this period where the shops go into overdrive as they launch huge campaigns to get us to shop on the high street or online and to grab our money for the presents you want to buy for your loved ones.
This involves
advertising and it means that on almost every single commercial break on
primetime TV, you will see a Christmas advert. They range from the stupid and
ridiculous to the simple classics that always entertain us every year.
Having seen
the majority of the big boys launch their commercial campaign already, I’ve
come to the conclusion that the average Xmas advert in 2013 is disappointing.
However their 2013 advert (caption pictured), premiered last Saturday during the X-Factor on ITV falls well short of expectations. Had it not been for the big build-up, you would struggle to guess what it is actually advertising. Having cost a reported £7m to make, I have to consider it as a total waste of money. While it does show the love and caring side towards Christmas (advert below), it hints that the brains behind the campaign were struggling for ideas to promote the brand this year. The only advantage they have is the use of a decent soundtrack. Personally, I think Lily Allen’s cover of the Keane song ‘Somewhere Only We Know,’ is lame and dreadful but it is selling copies and being downloaded heavily. It is more than likely that Allen will have a number one to her name come Sunday night but it will her most fortunate success to date.
On Wednesday
night during Coronation Street, supermarket chain Sainsbury’s launched their
Christmas campaign which shows normal families enjoying the build-up and the
actual day of joy and company. The campaign of home videos is for an upcoming
documentary film called ‘Christmas in a Day,’ directed by an Oscar winner in
Kevin Macdonald. The advert in terms of content is of good quality and the
ending is quite joyous as two youngsters experience the thrill and delight of
their father having returned home from combat in Afghanistan to be with family
on Christmas Day. Unfortunately, the advert is too long at three and a half
minutes and it won’t be remembered for that. At the two minute mark (advert
below), there is a gentleman in his kitchen talking into the camera but eagle
eye viewers spotted three food items from one of Sainsbury’s rivals in the
Co-Op!
A
Co-Operative spokeswoman said on Thursday: “It
seems that our Truly Irresistible Christmas pudding, lemon torte and Christmas
cake are so good, even Sainsbury’s can’t resist advertising them!”
It is an
embarrassing faux-pas for Sainsbury’s, as they struggle to compete with the
tried and trusted Tesco’s, a Morrison’s campaign with TV favourites Ant &
Dec and ASDA, recently voted best supermarket for low prices for the 16th
successive year. Even ALDI have made their moves into the industry with joyous
promotional material (2012 advert example below).
Other
commercials for the likes of Littlewoods, Marks & Spencer, Very.co.uk and
TK Max pass by without hardly a comment, let alone a big fuss. My personal
favourite this year actually comes from Sky. The advert shows a teenager with
headphones almost glued to her ears looking pretty downcast at this joyous time
of year. Her younger brother seems upset, so leaves a gift in her doorway and
the generous idea works as she comes down with her family to watch some good
Christmas TV on Sky Movies (advert below). It might seem
simple and basic but it is an excellent effort from Sky, who have been rivalled
by the likes of Virgin Media and more recently, BT in the past 12 months.
Christmas from the past
The Christmas
advert has been on our TV screens for many years and there have been some real
crackers down the past three decades. Here are some of my favourites, including
ones from Woolworths, John Lewis, Boots and of course, the Coca Cola Christmas
trucks.
I believe
though that none of 2013’s adverts will be remembered fondly in the years to
come.
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