Christmas Round Up Part 2

Time for a brief round up of some more Christmas ads!

Waitrose

A nice idea, that seems quite in fitting with the overall ethos of Waitrose. I think it would have helped however, to include or have some kind of detail that says Heston and Delia didn't charge a fee for this ad either. As any doubt over that does dampen the otherwise nice message.



Aldi

You all know the John Lewis ad, that's why I haven't included it, however Aldi have ensured it sticks around a little more by spoofing it nicely. The idea of spoofing the ad, and the little low budget recreation is sweet, but the voiceovers really don't fit, and lose the spirit. A voiceless ad that used simple animation to show the (presumably already clearly understood by many) 'I like this one' message would have almost certainly been a little better.



Argos

I'm not a huge fan of the blue aliens, but it's still a lot better than what most retail stores do. This ad certainly does what it needs to do, makes bluntly clear that Argos have new apps and make it easy to shop on your phone or tablet. It doesn't get in your face though, which is nice. It just rolls up a clear message into an advertising style gag, and doesn't blast a Christmas or sale message at you. Another sign that the average retail ad this Christmas is much improved over recent years.



Boots

Just seen the new Boots ads today. Nice extensions of the individual stories in their first ad. The stories I have seen are shot well, and get across their gift strategy in an enjoyable way. Nothing amazing, but much more inclusive and emotive than last year's Here Come The Girls work.

Cut Price Thrills

I love it when brands do things you don't expect. When they do silly or amusing things that show genuine warmth or humour.

The new Aldi ad features one of those rare things, a piece of copy so good as to change the way I feel about an entire brand that I already know a lot about.

I don't want to oversell it, but this ad made everyone in the room erupt in belly laughs the first time they saw it. The previous ad in the series was ok, and now I have no idea how they can top this one.

No going for bland 'let's not offend anyone' half-humour here. No Tesco family observation, no Morrisons cute quip, no Sainsbury's Jamie joking. The writers went for a genuine gag in a price/product ad and hit it right on the head. A price/product ad!! This is the equivalent of putting real humour into a DFS script.

I have to give a lot of respect to the client here, I can imagine a lot of clients looking at a script like this and asking the agency to tone make it safer. (Warning - Amusing but bad sounding reference coming up) This isn't Hitler raping Ghandi's corpse but it's still risky enough to make you chuckle.

So not only have I smiled and felt better about a brand, I've remembered an ad that focuses on product and price. For a brand like Aldi surely there can be nothing better. I for one love it, and wish more brands would take these risks.