British department stores and supermarkets always come up with something special for their Christmas adverts – these are the best ads for 2023.
British department stores and supermarkets always come up with something special for their Christmas adverts – these are the best ads for 2023.
Christmas is an important sales driver for supermarkets and department stores – and British supermarket chains put a lot of heart and a lot of money into their Christmas adverts every year. There is a creative race between the big chains such as John Lewis, Waitrose, Sainsbury’s and Lidl to see who best appeals with emotion and humour.
This is also the case at Christmas 2023, with the TV adverts gradually rolling out from the beginning of November, which are also shared via social media and YouTube. John Lewis is particularly well-known for its TV adverts, but there is not one for 2023 yet – although this will certainly happen soon.
Reisekompass („Travelcompass„) provides an overview:
Sainsbury’s will be using its 2023 Christmas advert on TV from 3 November in the evening: a girl asks the question, how does “Santa” actually eat at Christmas? The answers vary – and Rick Astley is also allowed to give his opinion. The British singer, who was very popular at the end of the 80s, is currently celebrating his artistic resurrection – and will also be performing in several countries next year. Sainsbury’s wants to emphasise its “Good Food for All of Us” campaign with its commercial (agency: New Commercial Arts).
Supermarket chain Morrisons is also relying on 80s music: the song “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now” by Starship is the musical accompaniment for the 2023 Christmas advert (agency: Leo Burnett), in which baking gloves sing the praises of hosts and chefs – funny.
M&S Food (Marks & Spencer) also rely on gloves – in this case it’s a lost pair. Their voices are spoken by actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney. There will be a total of six TV adverts featuring the pair.
Reynolds and McElhenney took over the Welsh football club Wrexham AFC three years ago, which now plays in the fourth division and is back in professional football thanks to support from Hollywood. M&S has announced its first ever partnership with a football club and will be supporting various projects around Wrexham, including projects to support families.
Speaking of M&S, the department stores chain itself also has a 2023 Christmas advert: It’s about really only doing what you love to do at Christmas. Actors include singer Sophie-Ellis Bextor and actress Hannah Waddingham (who played Septa Unella in Game of Thrones, among others).
The higher-priced supermarket chain Waitrose has enlisted celebrity support for its 2023 Christmas advert: TV presenter Graham Norton, who is very popular in the UK, delights stressed-out hosts in the advert (agency: Saatchi & Saatchi) with a (brief) surprise appearance.
This year, Lidl is focussing on a raccoon that brings back a lost toy. The supermarket chain is also running a campaign in which customers can return new, unused toys to a store by 16 December – these will then be given to families in need.
Asda has not yet released its full length Christmas advert 2023, but there is a one-minute preview: Singer Michael Bublé makes an appearance in it.
In its Christmas advert, the Boots cosmetics chain wants to show how easy it can be to give joy – the motto of the campaign is “GiveJoy”. Mother and daughter are accompanied on a journey.
Like Lidl, TK Maxx is focussing on animals – in this case farm animals. Even if the music is not traditional, the advert itself is certainly very traditional:
Even if it’s not a department store, Caffè Nero’s witty advert is dedicated to the anticipation of Christmas in a way that not everyone may share:
Christmas adverts: The best of the past few years
As a reminder, there have been a number of emotional and funny TV adverts from British department stores in recent years. We’ve picked out some of the best:
John Lewis – always known for tear-jerker adverts – last year followed a man in his efforts to get sporty – and there’s something very touching behind it.
Also last year, Aldi delivered a Christmas advert about forgotten carrots:
In 2016, M&S enlisted well-known director Tom Hooper for this advert – it’s about “Mrs Claus“:
In 2014, Sainsbury’s brought out an advert that is also about feelings and Christmas, but the frame story is the First World War – this year there is also fighting in many countries around the world. We shouldn’t forget that at Christmas either.
Two more from John Lewis, the uncrowned world champion of Christmas adverts: Firstly “Monty The Penguin” from 2014 and then “The Bear and the Hare” from 2013 with the fantastic music by Lily Allen (have your tissues ready!):
And because we’re talking about well-made Christmas adverts, let’s take a brief detour away from British retail chains: Austrian bank “Erste Bank” showed this advert last year:
