In the last 15 years big name companies have been at war with each other to produce the most talked about and memorable Christmas TV adverts. Some companies go down the route of pulling our heartstrings whilst others decided to create an image so vivid and comical we’ll never get rid of it! We’re going to take a deep dive into the top 10 UK Christmas Adverts that weren’t only great but very clever in how they got us talking at the most wonderful time of the year!
10. Christmas is for Sharing – Sainsbury’s (2014)
Starting out with what seems on the outside to be a very unjolly advert, Sainsbury’s 2014 Christmas Advert promoted their 20 year partnership with The Royal British Legion in a memorable short film. It’s a memorable advert and definitely needs to be included on this Top 10 Christmas adverts of all time list! The concept came from the mind of Ringan Ledwidge and tells the real story of how on Christmas Day 1914, British and German soldiers dropped their weapons, met in the middle of no-mans land and played a game of footy.
Of course they took some liberties with how accurate the scene played out but it’s very well shot. Eagle eyed readers will notice that the advert also came out 100 years after the outbreak of WW1, so Sainsbury’s paying their tribute to soldiers in such a wholesome way brings a twist to what a lot of other companies were doing that year to highlight the centenary.
9. Paddington & The Christmas Visitor – M&S (2017)
Next on our list is a British classic that was not long reimagined for the big screen – and then used in a Christmas TV Advert! 2017’s M&S Christmas advert came about the same year as Paddington 2, and with the success that the first film has M&S made a smart choice using him as their star. The 90 second ad follows Paddington as he thinks he hears Santa climbing on the roof. The naïve young bear doesn’t realise that it’s in fact a no good house burglar robbing presents from house to house. Things get out of hand in true Paddington style and in the end the villain learns that giving can feel good.
The advert got it’s fair share of controversy however as towards the end of the ad Paddington reaches into his hat and gives the burglar (played by Mark Benton) a marmalade sandwich. The thief says “Thank you little Bear”. To some viewers however this cockney accent makes the words sound like something VERY different and was the focus of much talk online! News sites were reporting that Paddington was sworn at on day time television and M&S came out with a statement to say he in fact wasn’t being sworn at. As a piece of marketing it definitely had the spot light for that year – for good and for bad!
8. Mistletoe – Yellow Pages (1992)
I want you to imagine you have a problem in your house that you can’t fix. Maybe a pipes leaked or a nest of unwanted robins have nestled in your loft. You go to search a company who can deal with such a problem – but wait! There’s no internet! Yellow Pages was a telephone directory book listing trusted services all in one place. Known for how large the book was, Yellow Pages decided to take this and run with it for their Christmas advert in 1992. The advert is only 20 seconds long but is a great example of visual storytelling. A girl is holding a mistletoe over here and for an eager boy to give her a smooch. The boy however is too small so thinks for a second and looks around. He spots the large Yellow Pages book and grabs it. Placing it at the girls feet he steps on top and is finally able to give her a wholesome kiss on the lips.
There’s no dialogue in the ad – but there doesn’t need to be! It sticks with people who watched it to this day as a reminder of what the Yellow Pages used to be and got people talking about it. I bet the first thing someone comments one when bringing up the books are their size which in todays world would be gold as they don’t have to shout about how many contact numbers they have in their advertising. If you remember watching this advert let us know in the comments and read on to find out more of the Top 10 Christmas adverts of all time!
7. The Bear and the Hare – John Lewis (2013)
Considered an annual event in the UK, the John Lewis Christmas advert brings together people for the old age discussion of “do you think it was better than last years?”. Whilst they’ve been knocking it out of the park for the last few years people may not know that the John Lewis Christmas adverts started way back in 2007. Over the years the style has changed but in 2013 we got a good sense of what the next 10 years would become. The Bear and the Hare is a hybrid stop-motion film featuring Keanes Somewhere Only We Know covered by Lily Allen. The story shows us the brilliant friendship between a bear hibernating for Christmas and a hare who want him to wake up to something magical! The film is the first of many to hook viewers in with it’s emotion baiting and film level production.
The advert even had it’s own behind the scenes to go along with the campaign showing off how animators built sets and used cut out 2D animations to add the characters to the scenes. This one will always be one of my favourite Christmas adverts as it was the first time I saw just how much work can go into making a 30 second advert – and what happens when it pays off.
6. Aardman BBC Idents (2021)
Next up isn’t technically an advert but appeared on BBC to advertise the company with famously no advertising (make it make sense). BBC idents have had many different stylings over the years and have been really creative with them. None are more creative however than the yearly Christmas idents that feature some of our favourite characters from British pop culture. Shaun the Sheep was the star with his flocky friends, getting up to no good as usual.
The charm of Aardman’s stop-motion films carry over to these short form films with the quality still being up their with their best. With Wallace & Gromit A Vengence Most Fowl hitting BBC and Netflix this Christmas, they’ve also created a new set of BBC idents for this year. However maybe those idents will feature in a future Hubspoke Media Blog in 10 years time!
5. Phenomenal Christmas/ Snowman 2 – Irn Bru (2006/2018)
Taking another British classic, Irn Bru made a sinical twist on Raymond Briggs The Snowman. In 2006, award-winning animator and illustrator Robin Shaw took on the technical challenge of recreating the iconic pencil coloured style of the original film to promote Irn Bru. He says on his page:
“Pastiche only works when it is done really well and respects what makes its subject truly great, and for that reason I relished the mammoth task of animating in the style of ‘The Snowman’… This ad, commissioned by The Leith Agency, won several awards and is now a seasonal favourite in Scotland where it has been shown almost every year since it was made in 2006.”
The ad follows the similar journey of a boy who is taken on a magical flight across the british countryside – but on this play of the original the boy is fighting for his life to take back his precious Irn Bru. The advert ends with the Snowman brutally dropping the boy from the sky into a pile of snow. 12 years later Robin was approached to make a sequel to the popular advert adding:
“It was wonderful to re-assemble my original team at Lupus Films and be able to pick up the story where it left off as well as leave it open for another chapter… Chris Watson and Rufus Wedderburn, the creative team at The Leith agency cleverly and carefully added to all the ingredients that made the first ad so successful and the response to this follow-up was universally rapturous.”
As Robin said the advert is still running to this day, showing just how well it was received back in 2006. Will we see this story turned into a trilogy? We’ll have to keep our eyes peeled and on our screens to see for ourselves.
4. Kevin the Carrot – Aldi (2016 -present)
Aldi have been a company that have taken over the UK with their cheap prices and are most recognisable for their too close for comfort reimagining’s of popular brands. They are like that kid in class who used to peek at everyone’s work and just change it a bit – yet still gets all the credit! So typically in Aldi fashion when John Lewis were finding success with their high production Christmas adverts, they decided to have a go to. So in 2016 we were introduced to Kevin the Carrot, who journeys across the dinner table to be able to meet Santa. The 60 second ad is as simple as that, but 8 years later Kevin is still going strong and has even grown in popularity.
Aldi stores are now plastered with posters and cut outs of Kevin, even expanding the Aldi-verse (think it’ll catch on?) to include new characters and stories. Children can now have Kevin the Carrot stuffed toys in their houses as Aldi released the cuddly toys a few years ago. Aldi took a risk by creating an ad that didn’t directly relate to their industry and instead focused on a good narrative and memorable characters.
3. Magical Place – Toys R Us (1989)
We’re now down to our top 3 and we’re sorry to say that number 3 may disappoint you. The fact is this “memorable” Christmas advert was never actually a Christmas ad! The 1989 Toys R Us advert is remembered fondly with it’s catchy jingle and visuals. Many people online mistake this to be Christmas themed and has almost become a sort of Mandela effect with people over a certain age.
The great thing for Toys R Us at the time is that even though they didn’t advertise the festive holiday once here they have now become synonymous with it. They were the place in the UK to go for Christmas shopping with the store being flooded in December. Even Adam Walker from Hubspoke thought it was a Christmas advert when we discussing this list. As a marketing campaign that actually turned out to yield very different results, we feel that the 1989 Toys R Us advert deserves the 3rd place spot for the massive influence it had on UK telly watchers.
2. The Man on the Moon – John Lewis (2015)
Our number 2 spot is of course another John Lewis advert (how could it not be!). It was tricky to pick just one for the number 2 spot as they’ve had so many great films over the years. We finally settled on their 2015 advert The Man on the Moon. Emotional cover of a British anthem? CHECK. Surreal situation that gets you hooked in the first 10 seconds? CHECK. Box of tissues ready because we all know it’s going to be a tear jerker yet we never expect it? CHECK!
This great Christmas ad follows the story of a young girl who befriends an old man who lives on the moon she sees through her telescope. She tries to get the mans attention however he can’t see her so she comes up with different ways to communicate with him. Oasis’s Half the World Away is playing, sung by Aurora, and ties everything together. This is a brilliant example again of simple story telling done well. Years later it is still regarded as one of, if not THE best John Lewis Christmas Adverts of all time. What do you think? Let us know in the comments! Now lets find out what the number 1 spot for the Top 10 Christmas adverts of all time is!
1. Holidays are coming – Coca Cola (1995)
Here’s the one you’ve all been waiting for. The number 1 spot for Top 10 Christmas adverts of all time! By far the most iconic, original and possibly mind altering Christmas adverts of all time is the 1995 Coca Cola Christmas advert. When discussing the list for this blog, this was the first one that came to everyone’s mind and for good reason. The ad features a catchy jingle which repeatedly says “Holidays are coming” – something that is still getting repeated today.
A convoy of bright red, lit up lorries drive through a town magically making decorations and baubles appear on trees and houses. These lorries are actually a real thing and can be found in the UK every year touring up and down the country. This is a fun example of marketing coming off the screen and bringing it to people in real life. Another reason why this ad is so impactful is what it left on the minds of the audience. Did you know the original drawings of Santa Clause depict him wearing green? Over the years the jolly face of Christmas has had many appearances but we think the one that jumps to the minds of most people first is the one in a red suit with white trimmings.
This design was popularised by Coca Cola in large part by this advert. And you know what else has a lot of red as part of it’s marketing and brand? It’s Coca Cola! So it all comes together to be one of the best Christmas adverts of all time! Coca Cola released their 2024 advert last month and split the internet with their choice of medium. The entire advert is created using AI which has had people asking: why? Is this the beginning of the robot uprising? Who knows, but I for one welcome the arrival of our AI robot overlords.
That was our Top 10 Christmas adverts of all time! Do you agree with out list? Do you think we left out any Christmas adverts that should have been here? Let us know in the comments and check out more of our blogs here.
(oh and merry Christmas from everyone here at Hubspoke Media)