Christmas ad season has well and truly arrived and thanks to the increasing use of on demand TV, you tend to find that LIVE 'shared viewing experiences' like the X Factor become the sole focus for such spots. This year it feels increasingly like all of the ads are merging into one.
They're all doing a great job for Christmas and for that festive feeling, but are they doing anything for the brands?
It seems that every retailer has decided that after years of unrivalled success, they too, need to produce a John Lewis ad or an M&S one.
The likes of Matalan, TK Maxx and Debenhams have all produced ads that feel incredibly similar in tone and content (though not quite as good), and it begs the question of whether the spots will benefit the brand in question anymore than it will benefit John Lewis for being misattributed.
Here's John Lewis & friends...
Here's what could be an M&S ad...
And finally there's the uncanny similarity of Morrison's and Asda. It's no surprise that this is all about their primary customer, mum, but the angle is almost identical. I'm not sure what i'm supposed to think of the Morrison's brand at the moment and it shows in this ad which is a major departure from the fresh food and provenance themes of 2012. The pay off at the end doesn't really do enough to rescue what is quite a depressing ad - so much so that rather than cast mum as the heroine, they find themselves being investigated by the ASA for reinforcing gender stereotypes. Compare that to the upbeat take on 'Mum's Christmas' by Asda and there's only one winner.
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