Its that time of year where we all eat and drink plenty of good food and drink, party with our friends, spend time with our family, unwrap presents and of course, watch many many Christmas adverts and declare our favourites.
We’ve rounded up our favourite Christmas adverts of 2018! Let us know which one is your favourite!
Sainsbury’s – The Big Night
The Sainsbury’s advert has all the elements of a great Christmas advert – catchy song, cute kids and sentimental feelings. This ad has children singing a song for their Christmas play – it reminded us a bit of the end of Love Actually. The standout moment in this advert is the kid dressed as a plug, throwing himself into a fake wall socket to light up the lights on the stage!
John Lewis – The Boy And The Piano
John Lewis have become the fixture of Christmas adverts. Over the last few years their stories of stuffed penguins, men on the moon, monsters under the bed and pets on trampolines have been the centre of debate.
This year they have moved away from their usual cute critters, instead of their advert document the story of Elton John, from getting a piano as a kid at Christmas, through his career that was born from that special gift.
The advert has sparked debate, with many people split on whether they like it or not. Its hard to deny that John Lewis is still the leader in Christmas adverts. Even Lidl and Ebay were quick to reference the John Lewis advert on Twitter!
If it’s happening in that Christmas ad, it’s happening on eBay
— eBay.co.uk (@eBay_UK) November 16, 2018
And in the rocket man’s words himself John Lewis – we hope you don't mind… #EltonJohnLewis #johnlewischristmasadvert #JohnLewisAd #JohnLewisChristmasAd pic.twitter.com/XyseebMfk5
Just because you don’t have £872 to spend on a piano, doesn’t mean you can’t be the next Elton. #EltonJohnLewis pic.twitter.com/TakObmWfqr
— Lidl UK (@LidlUK) November 15, 2018
Iceland – The ‘Rang-Tan’
Perhaps the most controversial advert this year, Iceland’s advert hasn’t yet made it to TV. Before it reached the screens, it was banned by Clearcast for being too political (due to its connection to Greenpeace). The advert isn’t based around Christmas, but tells the story of an Orangutan who has no home due to deforestation in pursuit of Palm Oil. Iceland has committed to removing palm oil from their own label products over the coming years. It a powerful advert, and the controversies have perhaps helped it reached more people. Over 900,000 people have signed a petition to reverse the ban and the subject of palm oil has become more of a mainstream discussion.
Do you think advert from @IcelandFoods about #PalmOil's rainforest destruction should have been banned?🌴🌴🌴
— Change.org UK (@UKChange) November 9, 2018
If not, sign here to reverse the ban: https://t.co/76uPEW0tWQ@GreenpeaceUK #NoPalmOilChristmas #NoPalmOil #orangutans pic.twitter.com/TZyrJPUzHV
Boots – Gifts That Show Your Get Them
Boots Christmas offering tells the story of a battle between mum and daughter, with a cute cover of Robbie Williams ‘She’s The One’. Always one for sentimental adverts, Boots pulls on the heartstrings yet again this year as the daughter finally ‘gets’ her mum and gets her the perfect gift to match. Anyone who has experienced a strained mother-daughter relationship is sure to melt!
Heathrow – The Heathrow Bears Return
After a successful 2017 Christmas advert, the Heathrow bears have returned! This time round, theire reminding us that Christmas is about spending it together – with the two grandparent bears living it up in Florida, only to realise they would rather be back home with their family and catching a flight out to be there. All together now – Awwwwww.
Waitrose – Too Good To Wait
Ok, so Christmas is definitely about family and coming together… but Waitrose Christmas advert is also here to remind us what else it’s about. Food. Their series of adverts tell funny stories of people foregoing a kiss under the mistletoe or hurrying along a Christmas concert in order to get to the delicious Christmas food quicker. We can’t help but relate!
The best of the series is the latest one that pokes fun at their own partners, John Lewis, with a family rushing through watching the advert to get to the Christmas Stollen.
Aldi – Kevin The Carrot
Kevin The Carrot has become Aldi’s mascot with their Christmas advert telling his story for the third year. This time, they’re parodying one of the most famous Christmas adverts of all time, the Coca-Cola trucks advert. Unfortunately Kevin’s journey driving his truck doesn’t go so well, with the advert ending on a literal cliffhanger as he hangs on the side of a mountain with the call to action #savekevin.
KFC – Chicken’s Here To Stay
A surprising addition to the Christmas advert party is this one from KFC, which sees a chicken on a long journey….. well watch to the end and it will all make sense.
Apple – Share Your Gifts
Rounding off our favourite adverts for the year is Apple’s beautiful advert about sharing your gifts. We see a girl who hides her creativity from the world around her, but through a cheeky dog and a gust of winter-wind is forced to show the world her skills. The beautiful moment where she realises people like her art is heartwarming, and the animation is beautiful.
