Topical Post - Christmas Adverts

It’s that time of year again! The seasonal displays are beginning to adorn many a shop window; every city and town begins to put up their Christmas lights; and the approach of the holidays is punctuated by the – now traditional – adverts from Marks & Spencer and John Lewis (I haven’t seen the Coca Cola advert yet, but it probably is not too far off). 

This year’s M&S advert is an unusual one, using the iconic imagery from a variety of classic fairytales and children’s books, but amalgamated in a very odd – and at times misguided – manner. The advert begins with a young woman chasing her dog through an empty street at night, before she reaches an open manhole, which she promptly falls down. It is at this point that it becomes apparent that “Alice in Wonderland” is the story being paid homage to (with the dog being the White Rabbit). The image of the girl falling slowly through the air, surrounded by a variety of objects is unmistakeable. However this is where the advert makes its first misstep, as all her clothes fall off while she is falling, revealing a set of designer underwear. Somehow the feeling of whimsy and delight, brought on by the nostalgia of a classic children’s novel, becomes displaced at this point. To make matters worse she then lands at the head of the table of the Mad Hatter’s tea party (miraculously fully dressed once again) only to have the Mad Hatter equivalent raise his eyebrows in a rather creepy manner that seems to say: “Oh yes, I saw your underwear on your way down”. I’m not trying to be prudish, but the combination of these different elements don’t really complement one another. As a result the “Alice in Wonderland” analogy comes across as seedy rather than delightful. 

The woman then makes her way from the tea party, through a creepy forest, and arrives at a gingerbread house (Hansel & Gretel). This homage does not last long – and they don’t even show off any M&S foods or deserts, which seems like a missed opportunity really – because as soon as she walks into the house, the carpet begins to move under her feet, whisking her into the Arabian sky (1001 Nights) where she appears in her underwear once again, and is rejoined by the same creepy guy from before. They crash into a cloud and she wakes up in Oz, where she is joined by three companions who join her in skipping down the yellow brick road before they meet Helena Bonham Carter, who compliments our Dorothy equivalent on her red shoes. The integration of different fashion styles into each scene is skilfully done, and I can understand the logic in it (this is an advert after all, they are trying to sell this produce, and they have made an effort to do so in a more creative way than most) but it is hard to fully buy into the whimsical nature of the storytelling as a consequence. 

Back in the real world (which is looking very delightful, covered in snow and with no people about!) Helena Bonham Carter approaches the woman and gives her back her dog, before the caption reads “Believe in Magic & Sparkle”. The production values on this advert are very good, and the integration of produce is done very cleverly (at least as far as clothing is concerned) but I didn’t get that warm Christmassy feeling from it, which it surely had all of the right components to evoke. It could be that the advert is more directed towards a female demographic, and maybe I’m being a bit too precious about the innocent nature of childhood nostalgia, but for me something about the advert seemed a little off.

This year’s John Lewis advert is very different, and tells a much simpler story in a heartfelt way. The animated sequence tells the story of ‘The Bear and The Hare’ two friends making their way through a forest, before they arrive at a clearing where all the other woodland creatures are decorating a large fir tree. The Hare is delighted by the sight, but the Bear yawns and walks away to hibernate for the winter (so there is a logic as to why he had “Never Seen Christmas” before – as explained in text at the start of the scene). The Hare is very sad about this, but makes the effort to visit his friend’s cave, leaving him a small Christmas present.

Christmas Day arrives, and all the animals excitedly open their presents, but the Hare feels sad and alone, until ... the sunlight bathes the clearing in a gloriously warm glow, just as the Bear arrives, giving a hilarious open-mouthed grin. The Hare is delighted, and the two reunite before celebrating Christmas with the rest of the woodland creatures. The story is much simpler and coherent than that of the M&S advert, reading very much like a fable. It is then capped off by the slightly disappointing reveal that the Hare had bought the Bear a clock for Christmas (“...oh, you shouldn’t have!”). The overall moral is much warmer than the M&S advert, taking comfort in the more traditional and hearty attitude that Christmas is a time of year to be together with family and friends. This is certainly commendable, and I think that this is why the John Lewis adverts have become a hallmark of the holiday season. 

The advert is beautifully animated, a sign that plenty of effort went into its creation, and it uses a similar creature design to that of Disney’s “Brother Bear” as well as "Watership Down". Lily Allen’s cover of “Somewhere Only We Know” is rather twee, but then again this has been the case with every John Lewis Christmas advert (female artist covers a recognisable and inoffensive song) so I can’t argue too much with their winning formula.

Overall I think that the John Lewis advert succeeds more because it is much more straightforward, while the M&S advert is more muddled in its coherence and overall meaning. It may be something of an oxymoron to expect adverts to be un-commercial, but the John Lewis advert takes a much less materialistic approach in how it gets its message across.The only questionable factor is that it showcases very little of what you can actually buy - so while it succeeds as a short film, does it work from an advertising perspective?