Day 29 of the blog marathon and I’m stunned I’ve lasted the course! As it’s the weekend I’m going to be sharing some videos with you again. I was planning to do this just for today but have so many that I’m making it a two-parter, to be concluded tomorrow.
As soon as there’s an ‘R’ in the month we start to be assailed by retailers telling us it’s Christmas. In some stores this even now starts in the renamed Augurst. There has been the usual blitz of TV advertising too, with the resultant effect that I’m even beginning to tire of the few I actually liked to begin with, and as for the others, well………. There’s no particular order to these, although I am saving my favourite till last – my little piece of advertising to entice you back again tomorrow!
Most of these are from the UK but I thought I’d start with a multinational which will be familiar to all – yes, it isn’t Christmas till a fleet of carbon-destroying lorries covered in fairy lights trundles into town. Take a bow, Coca Cola! I still think the music should be ‘All I Want For Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth’ though:
They even have to call it ‘Holidays’ too – I don’t remember Bing dreaming of a White Holiday! Now to one from the UK. This actually is quite representative of the store it promotes: cheap, tacky and they even have an old lady farting. Aldi, of course! And quite appropriate that it features Jools Holland, whose annual New Year TV special is recorded in early December, with lots of false bonhomie:
Also at the cheap end of UK stores is Morrison’s, whose ad is also tackily appropriate. But at least they have managed to employ two of the seven dwarves:
Pass the sickbag please! Another series of ads where they started at the wrong end of the A-Z of celebrities is Iceland. They have a history of using Z listers as the star of their ads – Kerry Katona, anyone? I have nothing personally against Peter Andre but I can’t watch TV now without seeing multiple versions of him, and I’m beginning to turn homicidal! This is just one of many:
Taking a completely different approach now, with Argos. This is a store which has suffered in recent years, as online shopping has taken huge chunks out of its market. It’s great to see them fighting back with such a traditional view of Christmas:
Yes, Run DMC really are the epitome of a traditional British Christmas, aren’t they! The final one for today is this, from Sainsburys:
That is the full version, although it has been abbreviated for TV airtime, presumably so that they don’t bankrupt themselves! It is a beautifully made film, which tells a well known story – well acted, beautiful cinematography. But…… maybe I’m just getting old and curmudgeonly, but I can’t help thinking that it is a cynical attempt to cash in. There has been a huge amount of commemoration of the centenary of the start of World War I, and I find it distasteful that a commercial outfit would attempt to benefit from this. I think it does nothing for their image, but a lot against it – a reminder that 100 years ago millions gave their lives so that we can shop in Sainsburys? No thanks!
End of part one – do come back for more tomorrow!
Take It Easy 