Christmas is getting nearer, and despite everything else, one thing never changes - suddenly, every other ad on TV is Christmas-related. To help get us all in the Christmas spirit, we’ve rounded up some of our favourite Christmas ads of 2020.
Sainsbury’s Gravy Song
First on the list is Sainsbury’s ad which caused quite a stir. Their 2020 offering, an ad featuring home videos of past Christmases while a father and daughter reminisce over the phone (specifically about the dad’s homemade gravy), was met with a backlash that proves racism is still alive and well in the UK. While certain viewers may well be lacking in Christmas spirit, that doesn’t take away from a lovely ad portraying a sense of domestic intimacy and articulating what many people have been thinking lately: that they really hope they can see their families this Christmas.
Lidl’s Christmas you can believe in
This year Lidl ditched the cliches about Christmas magic and decided to put all the attention on what is arguably the best part of Christmas anyway - the food. From parsnips to carrots to wine to Christmas pudding, they covered all the essentials in an ad that makes you hungry. Christmas dinner has never looked so good! The animated ad also features a dig at rival Aldi: a line in the ad’s voiceover says that Lidl doesn’t ‘need cutesy characters when carrots taste this good’, a reference to Aldi’s Kevin the Carrot.
Waitrose and John Lewis’s celebration of kindness
John Lewis and Waitrose offer an artistic ad that uses a range of different animation styles from animation to claymation to CGI in order to convey its message of sharing kindness with one another this Christmas. Each scene is a different style and features different characters but is connected to the scene before and the scene after by a recurring heart image. And it’s not all talk: the retailers really do aim to spread kindness, aiming to raise £4m for two charities to help those hit hardest by the pandemic.
Tesco’s no naughty list
Tesco takes a slightly more humorous approach, making light of the whole year with characters confessing to buying too much toilet roll or not singing happy birthday while they washed their hands. The campaign is based on research by Tesco which found that 78% of British people admit to doing something ‘naughty’ this year. Luckily, according to Tesco, there is no naughty list this Christmas! It’s all about treating yourself after a long, weird year.
Coca-Cola’s journey to the North Pole
Coca-Cola, on the other hand, went down the tearjerker route, with an ad following a father’s epic journey to the North Pole to hand-deliver his daughter’s letter to Santa. The message at the heart of the ad is to ‘give something only you can give’ and make time for your loved ones this Christmas, whether in person, over Zoom or in a text. We won’t spoil the ending for you, but there’s a good chance it’ll bring a tear to your eyes.
McDonald’s inner child
Another more emotional one, McDonald’s 2020 offering depicts a mother trying to get her son in the Christmas spirit with decorations and Christmas markets. Outwardly, he is just not having it, despite secretly wanting to join in. After a stop at McDonald’s, he starts to listen to his inner child, helping his mum decorate the tree and leaving out reindeer treats. After the year we’ve had, we all need a little reminder to relax and let ourselves enjoy this Christmas season, doing our inner child proud.