‘Holiday’s are coming’ Instantly your first thought is without a doubt, the Coca-Cola Christmas lorries, along with soft jingles and choir music starting up. That’s when I believe you know Christmas is truly approaching.
Christmas ads on our TV screens are extremely popular throughout the whole of UK and Ireland. Now with social media, and the likes of YouTube thrown into the mix, it’s impossible to not be inundated with them and their catchy music, you either love them or hate them.
Spending on Christmas ads are rising each year with this year (Advertising Association, 2018) 6 ½ billion pounds were spent on seasonal advertising, beating last years record by 5%.
Each year the ‘main’ brands such as, Aldi, Coca-Cola, Debenhams, H&M, John Lewis, Lidl and Marks & Spencer, bring out their eagerly anticipated Christmas ad as a now fully cemented tradition which viewers enthusiastically critique.
What’s Christmas Ads without the music?
Music is a big part of Christmas, this year Elton John and Take that were a few to star in some on the main Christmas ads, but Coca-Cola outshines every year with ‘Holidays are coming’ being chosen as the favourite song to feature in a Christmas ad. (Advertising Association, 2018).
Is social media changing the game?
YouTube has over a billion users and people are turning to the site to instantly watch the best new Christmas ads of the year
Making a list of this, from the video stats from last year,
- Number 5 –Sainsbury’s Christmas Advert 2014 – Christmas is for sharing
(19 million views)
- Number 4 –John Lewis Christmas Advert 2016 – #BusterTheBoxer
(25 million views)
- Number 3 –John Lewis Christmas Advert 2014 #MontyThePenguin
(26 million views)
- Number 2 – John Lewis Christmas Advert 2015 – #ManOnTheMoon
(28 million views)
- Number 1 – Sainsbury’s Christmas Advert 2015 – Mog’s Christmas Calamity – #ChristmasIsForSharing
(37 million views)
(Barnes: Nov, 2017)
The Worlds Number 1…
The German supermarket chain, Edeka. It’s tear jerker is number one around the world, online with its sentimental advert below.
This heart warming ad captures many hearts, but as the world’s number 1 ‘online’ doesn’t really make it the number 1 of all time?
What about the classics?
It’s hard to compare new advertisements of today that have so much social media backing surrounding them, compared to old masterpieces that were around before the world wide web even existed. For Example, The Kelloggs Christmas advert from 1991 with the little girl finding Santa and saying her cute little ‘Ho, Ho, Ho’ or the Coca-Cola ‘Holidays are coming’ ad from 1995 would surely be great contenders.
My Number 1;
Like the Classics, my number 1 has been around for 14 years, yet it is still played without fail on TV every Christmas.
When thinking about Christmas, the sentimental aspect always comes out on top for me, that’s why my favourite advert of all time is without a doubt,
The Guinness Christmas Ad
The quietness of Christmas Eve, and the chiming of the church bells as it turns midnight onto the 25th of December on the old gentleman’s watch. The picturesque scenes with the soft snow and the quiet city scenes from all over Ireland from Galway to Dublin and Belfast. The music of the soft flute at the beginning, building up a quiet symphony with violins more towards the end accurately bring that homely feeling.
Of course the best Christmas ads can’t be determined with how many times it has been shown on tv, how many YouTube likes and views it has received or how many times you have cried watching them. Purely opinion, sentimentally and nostalgically grounded.
What would your favourite of all time be?
Alexandra McEvoy is a final year BSc in Communication Management & Public Relations student at Ulster University. She can be found on: Twitter – @alexmcevoy_ ; Linkedin – https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexandra-mcevoy-111ba5171/
Sources from;
https://econsultancy.com/the-top-10-most-shared-christmas-ads-of-all-time/ https://www.digital22.com/insights/10-most-viewed-christmas-adverts-of-all-timehttps://www.extreme-creations.co.uk/blog/the-marketing-stats-behind-2016-christmas-ads/