Every year in the UK, in one of the first few weeks of November, activity on social media increases dramatically, hundreds of articles are published, and one cannot engage in public discourse without being asked their thoughts on the matter. It is a competition judged by the nation; which retailer has made the best Christmas advert this year?
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Until quite recently, Christmas adverts were just advertisements, embracing the materialistic and consumerist nature of Christmas. Coca Cola had long been associated with their humorous and creative ideas to promote their product in the US, including carol-singing cola bottles and stop-motion families sledging with cola.
However, recently Christmas adverts in the UK have become something of national interest. They are no longer short, punchy advertisements, but stories that evoke emotion in their viewers. Journalist Mark Williams describes the ‘Christmas advert phenomenon’, and holds British department-store John Lewis accountable for ‘a new era of [Christmas] advert’ with their 2011 advert The Long Wait, which followed a young boy counting the days down till Christmas until, in the advert’s infamous twist, the day arrived and he ran straight past his presents to give his parents theirs (Williams, 2017). Williams talks of that advert’s ‘story, heart and genuine emotion’, and how it made John Lewis sales increase by 9.3% on the previous Christmas and the advert’s song, a cover of The Smiths’ ‘Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want’ reach number 1 in the UK charts.
Still from John Lewis' 2012 Christmas advert, The Journey
Still from Coca Cola's 1956 Christmas advert
Still from John Lewis' 2011 Christmas advert, The Long Wait
Since The Long Wait, every year all major British retailers compete for the title of ‘this year’s best Christmas advert’, with publications publishing articles much like Metro’s, ‘From Sainsbury to John Lewis, here are the 2017 Christmas adverts ranked from best to worst’ (2017); it is front page news. Ultimately, Christmas adverts have become an essential part of British Christmas culture.