THE BATTLE OF THE XMAS ADS

Ding Dong! It’s early November and my Facebook feed is alerting me to the fact that seeing though the Coca-Cola advert has now been broadcast, Christmas is officially here! The Holidays are coming, as are a series of marketing campaigns from stores which want to lure you in this Christmas. So how have the big advertisers set about winning our custom this festive season?

JOHN LEWIS- THE BEAR AND THE HARE (Ooh it rhymes! Clever! High 5s marketing team)

With 2011’s ‘Best Son of the year’ and 2012’s ‘Snowmen in Love’ adverts achieving overwhelming popularity, John Lewis have been leading the way with their Christmas advertising campaigns in recent years. So how have they gone about topping that this year?

An animated story of a bear and a hare ought to do the trick. In order for the bear’s hibernation cycle to not allow him to miss Christmas, his best friend Mr Hare buys him a luxury John Lewis alarm clock so they can spend Christmas Day together, in the company of their other woodland friends whilst listening to Lily Allen’s long awaiting (we could have waited longer, though) comeback.

The fact that the nation has been blubbering in tears over this advert and I haven’t probably says something about me, but to be fair to the marketing team they’ve highlighted the true meaning of Christmas- spending time with loved ones. Now go buy their overpriced middle class items to say thankyou!

Christmas Tree Rating: Glittery bauble that I’d put in the middle but someone would put higher up when my back was turned

MARKS AND SPENCERS- BELIEVE IN MAGIC AND SPARKLE

Gone are the days of Gary Barlow, Myleene Klass and, um… Twiggy, when it comes to M&S ads, as their new advert stars Rosie Huntingdon-Whitely (I’m not complaining).

After falling down a man hole, Rosie finds herself caught up in a series of fairytales (Alice in Wonderland, Aladdin, The Wizard of Oz) combined with a Marks and Spencer’s nightmare. I’ve always wondered what the Mad Hatters Tea Party would look like with a ‘Blue Harbour’ and ‘Per Una’ dress-code.

Christmas Tree Rating: Fairy on top- Even if it’s on par with the others the fairytale idea means it should have top spot

ASDA- SNOWMEN

Fathers for justice, Feminists and Mumsnet rejoice! Mum’s no longer in the kitchen! Well she’s not in it at all. Nor is the kitchen. What I’m saying is Mum may still be in the kitchen, but Dad’s not useless he’s looking after the kids. So calm down because there’s no way this year ASDA can be embroiled in another sexism Christmas advert row!

Dad has a funny way of entertaining the kids though. Building 4 snowmen which represent the 4 biggest supermarkets, and having the snowman with the green scarf bigger and better than the other 3. 10% better in fact! Still, that’s Dads for you.

Christmas Tree Rating: Chocolate treat that fell off and was eaten

ROYAL MAIL- WE LOVE PARCELS (But we don’t like being privatised)

What’s this? Postmen with smiles on their faces? Postmen delivering on time? No sign of an attempted delivery notice in sight? Surely this advert isn’t 100% accurate, but in terms of getting the message across it’s fairly simple but probably the most effective of the lot. The advert shows a series of postmen (dressed in red, a bit like Santa), with smiles on their faces (a bit like Santa), delivering parcels and presents (a bit like Santa, get it yet?).

After the difficult Christmas of 2011 in which Royal Mail received a lot of criticism for not delivering on time, the brand are trying to restore some of our faith. After all they’re just jolly postmen, and all you need is love.

Christmas Tree Rating: One of those decorations you made when you was 3 and your parents bring it out every year

Notes: Part 2 coming soon! Cadburys, Iceland, Morrisons and Debenhams watch out!