M&S takes on John Lewis in Christmas ad battle with topless ‘shredded Santa’
Source: The Guardian ·
James Norton and Lucy Punch star as a youthful Mr and Mrs Claus in lively ad about shared moments as well as shoppingFor years the “Christmas advert moment” has belonged to one brand. John Lewis’s syrupy commercials featuring piano ballads and tearjerker storylines have given the 160-year-old department store a cultural head start in the dash for festive profits.This year, however, there’s one…
From the source
For years the “Christmas advert moment” has belonged to one brand. John Lewis’s syrupy commercials featuring piano ballads and tearjerker storylines have given the 160-year-old department store a cultural head start in the dash for festive profits. This year, however, there’s one high-street rival with a sackful of tricks to make up the ground. Marks & Spencer has brought out the big guns – in the form of a topless Santa, played by the small-screen heart-throb James Norton. The lively M&S Christmas ad has already drawn comparisons with John Lewis’s effort, which features Kristin Scott Thomas as a glamorous granny on the hunt to turn one room of her huge townhouse into a fun “gran cave”. In the M&S corner Norton and Lucy Punch play a youthful Mr and Mrs Claus – with a lingering shot of Norton with his top off. When John Lewis launched its advert this week, its portrayal of wealth was criticised, with a sprawling house and ungrateful grandchildren said to be out of touch with the wider…
BestAIBroker analysis
- Finance-aware sentiment: neutral (+0.00 on a -1 to +1 scale).
- Event classification: OTHER.
- Market importance score: 33/100, weighting entity relevance, source credibility, multi-outlet coverage and recency.