Christmas advert season is finally upon us and after a whirlwind of a year, we’re so ready for the first crop of festive cheer to begin. As we wait with bated breath for the good people at John Lewis to reveal their 2020 tear-jerking goods, we’re rating the rest of the Christmas ads from Amazon to Argos.
Have a scroll through and watch every joyous Christmas ad so far
Something tells us they’re all going to go absolutely Christmas ham on the heartstrings because – 2020! We will be updating this blog post as the ads roll in but for now, have a scroll through and watch every joyous Christmas ad so far…
John Lewis
The hotly-anticipated Waitrose & John Lewis advert has finally made its debut, so we’re officially in the mood for mulled wine and mistletoe. Inspired by the spirit of kindness shown by the British public during the coronavirus pandemic, the two-minute ad titled, Give A Little Love, shows animals, children, snowmen and neighbours carrying out good deeds. Each character passes the campaign’s heart emblem onto the next, spreading love and kindness this Christmas.
Instead of using a single production team, this year’s ad is a celebration of different art forms, selecting multiple artists from animation and claymation to CGI and cinematography. In another break from tradition, an original song (rather than the usual breathy cover) was commissioned to provide the soundtrack. Written and recorded by Brit-award winner, Celeste, the charity single ‘Give A Little Love’ lands us right in the festive feels. Together, John Lewis and Waitrose are aiming to raise £5million to help 100,000 families in need.
Cry-ometer rating: we didn’t think a pigeon clad in a gold chain and acid wash denim would get us teary but 2020 is no ordinary year.
Sainsbury’s
Disclaimer: this advert may be triggering for racists.
The supermarket has released the first two Christmas ads in their three-part series focusing on families sharing their culinary memories and hoping they can be reunited this year amid the pandemic.
The first instalment, called The Gravy Song, features a father and daughter having a chat on the phone about Christmas and the legendary gravy he makes every year. As a montage of throwback home-style video footage plays, the dad breaks out into his gravy song in the most embarrassing and loveable dad-like manner.
Despite the retail giant receiving criticism from some, ahem, racist trolls, we applaud Saino’s for getting their ad so, so right.
The second instalment, titled Perfect Portions, depicts a mother and son reminiscing about Christmases with their dad and how he’d always carve perfectly even slices of turkey. The final instalment in the festive Saino’s collection, Big Sarnie, is set to air on Thursday and will show two cousins remembering the Boxing Days spent at their nan’s.
Cry-meter rating: Crying at a Christmas ad? No. Eye condensation? Yes.
Coca-Cola
The Coca-Cola ad sees a dad saying goodbye to his daughter as he sets off to work on an oil rig. After forgetting to post his daughter’s letter to Santa, he embarks on an epic journey to the North Pole. He sails the ocean, treks across the desert and climbs mountains in search of the North Pole but when he arrives, he sees a sign on the grotto door saying, “Closed For Christmas”. A certain kind bewhiskered sir in the famous Coca-Cola van gives him a lift home to his family, handing his daughter’s letter out the window to him as he leaves. The father, confused, opens the letter to find that his daughter’s Christmas wish was simply for her daddy’s safe return home. Who pulls away in the Coca-Cola truck? Good ol’ Saint Nick.
Cry-meter rating: Should come with a Christmas hayfever warning.
Tesco
In the year that humans stockpiled loo roll, we needed a light-hearted Christmas ad to poke fun at us.
The Tesco ad, titled No Naughty List, shows various people confessing to the things that might land them on the naughty list this year. From giving sisters dodgy haircuts (relatable) to failing to donate to Captain Tom (audible gasp), the retailer encourages shoppers to forget all about the naughty list this year and treat themselves instead. After all, we deserve it!
Cry-meter rating: howling, in a good way.
Amazon
As Christmas ads go, Amazon has set the barre pretty high. This year’s ad follows the story of a young, determined ballerina, forced to train from home due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Set to a moving instrumental of Queen’s ‘The Show Must Go On’, the two-minute advert sees a ballerina, played by French ballet dancer Taïs Vinolo, training on Zoom, in the streets and in her hallway, only to discover the Winter show has been cancelled.
Seeing her sister’s disappointment, the dancer’s younger sibling hatches a plan to invite the neighbours to a very special solo performance of, “The Show Must Go On” on their own snowy rooftop. The finale will have you on toast. Bravo Amazon – a touching reminder of the beauty of the arts and the power of community. Needless to say, Fatima’s next job will not be in cyber.
Cry-ometer rating: Ideally, you’ll have a tissue for each eye and nostril. Realistically, you’ll make do with one and use a heavy-duty sleeve to mop up the rest.
Asda
With England now in lockdown 2.0, many of us are clinging to the hope of a somewhat normal Christmas, even if it does look a little different this year.
Featuring the tagline, “the Christmas they need, at the prices they all want”, the ad sees the return of Sunny the superfan and his family as they decorate the house ready for Christmas & gather round the dinner table to tuck into a festive feast, c/o Asda.
The no-frills ad feels very simple & wholesome, acknowledging the pandemic but inspiring us all to make the most of the festive season, even if we’re spending more time at home.
Cry-ometer rating: You will probably release a tear or two but you won’t be dealing with face ache. None of that contorting your cheeks and mouth business, save that for John Lewis.
Argos
In this adorable Greatest Showman-esque ad entitled, ‘An Evening with AbracaDaisy & The Incredible Lucy’, the iconic Argos catalogue makes a welcome comeback.
When sisters Lucy & Daisy circle a box of amazing magic tricks in the Argos Book Of Magic, they are transformed into mini magicians. Soon enough, the front room becomes the theatre of dreams with a grand chandelier and a royal box for proud grandma to watch the show, as the girls perform their set.
As well as performing a range of tricks from sawing their sausage dog in half to vanishing objects, the feel-good ad sees the girls magic up presents for their whole family to enjoy, all to the jolly tune of Gary Barlow’s toe-tapping soundtrack ‘Incredible’.
Instead of centering the story around the pandemic, the retailer focuses on themes of family, togetherness and the magic of Christmas. It’s the pure escapism we were all hoping for.
Cry-ometer rating: Happy tears will be a’flowing.
TK MAXX
Move over Emily In Paris! If this was a competition for bougie openings, TK Maxx wins because within the first three seconds, they gave us the gift of a goat in a beret. Clad in designer gear, the animated goat struts her stuff across the countryside, showing off her new look to her fellow woollies, neckerchief and all.
Meanwhile, her farmers watch on from the window, tearing up indoors as they reflect on the year she’s had why she’s totally deserving of a designer outfit, even if she is a goat. At just 30 seconds, it’s short and sweet but it’s just the kind of light-hearted, silly randomness we were looking for in these troubled times.
Cry-ometer rating: When the farmer cries, we cry with him because he’s right, it has been one hell of a year. SNIFF.
Very
What appears to be just another perfect Christmas Day scene of a happy family gathered round a table blah blah blah (oh, pur-lease), soon cuts to a family watching the cliché Christmas ad play out on their tv screens and branding it ‘a load of rubbish’. That’s more like it!
The unfiltered ad is different to anything the fashion retailer has done before and focuses on all the ridiculous traditions that make the run up to Christmas what it is – squishing the 12ft Christmas tree into a 10ft room, sourcing presents for the bin man and panic-making a last-minute DIY lumpy box outfit for your kid’s Christmas play. It’s charmingly honest and relatable perspective encourages us all to embrace what Christmas is all about this year instead of sweating the small stuff.
Cry-ometer rating: May your tear ducts enjoy a 90 second dry spell. This one’s going after your laughter lines.
Disney
We were not prepared for this. The ad, titled ‘From Our Family To Yours’, in support of children’s charity Make-A-Wish, opens in 1940 when a young girl receives a cuddly Mickey Mouse toy from her father. Fast forward to 2005 and that little girl is now a grandmother, passing on her sentimental childhood toy to her granddaughter.
The festive animation follows the grandmother and her granddaughter through the years, making star-shaped decorations together and enjoying Christmas traditions, until her granddaughter gradually becomes less interested and goes out for the evening instead.
When she returns home, the grandmother is already in bed and she sees the Mickey Mouse toy on the table with a broken ear. She sets about filling the living room with different colour star decorations and repairs the nostalgic Mickey Mouse toy. In the morning, she surprises her grandmother by re-gifting the treasured Mickey Mouse.
And if that nostalgic tale wasn’t enough to get us blurry-eyed, the soundtrack, ‘Love Is A Compass’ sung by London-based singer, Griff, ought to do it.
Cry-ometer rating: Not a dry eye in the house. What did we do to deserve nans?!
Aldi
Kevin the Carrot is back for the fifth year running and this year, he’s a long way from home.
Soundtracked by the Home Alone theme tune (genius), the clip begins with Kevin’s young family eagerly waiting for their daddy to come home. Meanwhile, Kevin is miles away lost in the snow trying to find his way back. He stumbles across a friendly hibernating hedgehog who helps him on the first leg of his journey, until disaster strikes and they tumble into an icy river – Santa to the rescue! Will he make it back to his family in time for Christmas?
Cry-ometer rating: Who needs onions when you have carrots? Enjoy a comfortable and much-needed sob to self.
M&S Food
Narrated by the iconic Olivia Colman, the M&S Food ad takes us on a culinary journey featuring all their festive best bits from oak-smoked salmon and triple chocolate panettone to their sparkly cult tipple: the light globe gin liqueur.
Each week, from now until the New Year, a new festive M&S ad will drop on the telly, voiced by over 10 world-famous actors including Eddie Redmayne, Tom Hardy, Chiwetel Ejiofor and Dame Helen Mirren. M&S will also be donating £2million to charity.
Cry-ometer rating: If we can’t get hold of a bottle of THAT next-level gin, then yes – cry we will.
Barbour
Barbour’s much-loved festive grump is back for another blooming Christmas. Based on a true story of a customer’s cheeky Dachshund named Dudley, this year’s ad, named ‘Father Christmas To The Rescue’, sees Father Christmas help a little boy repair his dad’s old heirloom Barbour jacket after Dudley chewed his way through it.
After trying to mend it himself to no avail, Father Christmas goes on an adventure to the Barbour factory in South Shields to enlist the help of the experts to make it look as good as new in time for Christmas. A Christmas ad with sustainability at its heart – how blooming lovely.
Cry-ometer rating: Tears? Abso-blooming-lutely.
McDonald’s
There was absolutely no need for McDonald’s to go ham on our emotions like they did but here we are crying along right on cue and mopping up our tears with our burger bun.
Set to a stripped-back cover of the iconic, Alphaville’s Forever Young, sung by singer-songwriter, Becky Hill, the Christmas ad has made a surprising departure from their usual festive menu focus in favour of a tear-jerking animation.
The ad, titled Inner Child, tells the story of a mother trying to encourage her teenage son to get into the Christmas spirit but he’s more interested in his screens and gadgets than spending time with his mum. A relatable modern story that’ll ring true for many parents.
At the beginning of the 90-second clip, we see the mum dancing around a Christmas market with reindeer ears on her head in a bid to make him laugh but he sticks his earphones in and walks off. On the way home, the pair stop off at McDonald’s where Tom’s inner child lights up. When they get home, they have a snowball fight and Tom helps his mum decorate the tree and leaves carrots by the fireplace for Santa’s reindeer. The story ends with a message asking, ‘Are you reindeer ready?’.
The fast food restaurant has pledged to provide a further four million meals for the charity FareShare. The singer will also be donating 10p from every download of the soundtrack to the food charity.
Cry-ometer rating: Don’t bother putting makeup on.
