Two more British ads

These two Christmas ads are for UK supermarket chain Sainsbury’s. The ad up top is their general ad, and the one below is Sainsbury’s food Christmas ad. Both ads use the same general look and feel, though their intent is different.

The ad up top, “The Greatest Gift”, is the most “Christmasy” of the two. The YouTube description says it’s:

“…a joyous Christmas musical created in stop frame animation featuring vocals by James Corden. It tells the story of Dave, a hard-working and devoted Dad, who realises that the greatest gift he can give people this Christmas is his time.”

It’s a nice ad, and somewhat subversive (probably deliberately so…) for a retailer to run an ad that says the most important Christmas gift is one that people don’t buy. It’s also nice because we don’t see traditional animation techniques used much anymore.

The second ad, below, is specifically promoting food from Sainsbury’s, and uses the same animated characters from their Christmas ad: “Feast your eyes on Sainsbury’s range of delicious Christmas food that Dave and the families of Bisby are tucking into this Christmas,” as the YouTube description puts it. I particularly like the way real-life video is intercut with the animation, even though it’s a little bit surreal—actually, that’s probably the reason I like it. The tagline “Christmas is for sharing” is the usual Christmas tagline for the company.

Sainsbury’s is the second largest grocery retailer in the UK (behind Tesco). It’s had its share of controversies, mostly around unfair trading and business practices. Even so, it’s clearly popular.

I like these ads, the one up top the most. I also like seeing how ads are done in other countries. At this time of year, not everything has to be serious.