Christmas crackers

UK – As Christmas adverts were launched this week LS:N Global has been busy sorting the best from the rest.

Tesco is one of the big winners this year with its witty send-up of modern life as seen through the eyes of a dysfunctional family. So often brands are guilty of over-sentimentally at this time of year, but Tesco has kept it fresh and funny with references to gluten-free diets and flirting in the first of four spots.

Waitrose also showed a more humorous side by releasing 10-second trailers of its advert What Makes Your Christmas? Creating quick and highly shareable content shows an appreciation for the way its customers behave online and generated an air of expectancy for the main show.

Also calling time on sentimentality is Argos. For #JustCantWait the retailer ditched slow and steady in favour of a high-octane chase down a mountain side, showing off its extensive product range and same-day delivery service.

Buoyed by the success of 2013’s Sorry, I Spent It On Myself, Harvey Nichols once again made Christmas Day disappointment the centre of its messaging. As LS:N Global explains in Full-stop Strategies in Anti-authenticity Marketing, however, brands must know when to let go of a good idea and this year’s Avoid #GiftFace fails to have the same impact this time around.

Harvey Nichols is not the only one lauding materiality during the festive season. Currys PC World has recruited actor Jeff Goldblum for Spare the Act, a series of short films in which family members, underwhelmed by Christmas, learn to fake the holiday spirit.