Hey Sweeties,
This is going to be one of those posts where you either agree with me or I become your most hated blogger… but I hope this would only be temporary. The last couple of weeks my Sunday chat posts have been tied into quite personal things so I now want to lighten the mood and raise for discussion Christmas advertising, something we all have in common and an opinion on.
Yes I still think it’s a bit early to be mentioning Christmas but we’re all thinking about it so why try to deny the obvious eh?!
Anyway.
Most of you will be unaware but until earlier this year I had another blog (The Passion Queen) which was focussed entirely on (mostly television) advertising because I won’t lie to you, I love it! But in loving it, I am also (mostly) immune to its powers of persuasion and its ability to make even the strongest reduce to tears… particularly at Christmas.
What I am basically trying to say is that Monty the Penguin does nothing for me. Every year John Lewis releases an advert almost solely so that people go mad on social media sharing it and announcing how sore their eyes are after crying so hard. Pathetic. I am sorry but it is. John Lewis does this every single year and I am bored. I am not disputing that Monty (the penguin) is absolutely adorable and the advert as a whole is cute but crying over it? Please.
This year I am also go to throw into this mix Waitrose as they’ve gone all soppy unnecessarily as well.
Christmas is absolutely about sharing the day/festive period with family and present giving is part of that but above all it’s a happy time. It’s about celebration.
For retailers, Christmas is the most lucrative time of the year, they have to get it right to achieve the sales and those like the supermarket brands do generally concentrate their advertising on how they can contribute to making your Christmas great. Even the likes of Iceland and their bizarre hiring of Peter Andre, do ultimately tell you what they’re all about -that they have good food for a great price. The likes of Aldi and Lidl have also come into their own this year and I think Marks & Spencer have been a bit boring for their festive contribution. However, asides from making everyone except me cry, John Lewis from the sounds of things have just done fantastically well in the sale of cuddly toy penguins.
For me, my favourite Christmas advert this year is the one from Sainsburys. Why it has gained so much negative press is beyond me, I can see why some people would have a problem with it but for me, I just think it’s brilliant and it has been made with support from the British Legion. So what’s the problem?
This year marked 100 years since the start of the First World War and I think it is only apt that opportunity is made to remember and show respect for that time and those that lost their lives. Sainsburys have done their bit by reminding us that within the huge loss of lives, there were moments where the conflict at hand wasn’t all sad. The two enemy sides did, for short time, come together and do something human and share… this also happened to be at Christmas. Watching that advert made you stop and realise that it wasn’t soldiers fighting, it was mostly young lads who were one day friends and the next sworn enemies killing each other. Now that is worth crying over. It makes you remember that Christmas is not about a boy with his toy penguin who gets bought another toy penguin that goes viral across the internet; it’s about sharing and being together. I didn’t see one person share the Sainsburys advert on my social feeds.
So yes, how you all feel having realised I don’t like the John Lewis advert I don’t know. But it’s an opinion and we’re all entitled to those. So let me know what you guys think.
Until next time x
