Whether you’re a Who or a Grinch, you can’t have missed the Christmas adverts popping up on the box in the last few weeks! Christmas adverts have always been a staple of the festive season since Coca-Cola’s big red trucks appeared, but since John Lewis started releasing big cinematic pieces annually, everyone has stepped up their game, and in some cases, outshone the company that started it.

So, let’s have a look at the festive offerings of 2018!

John Lewis

Some have argued the store which started the Christmas advert trend has been losing steam in recent years.

This time they’ve enlisted the star power of Elton John, as he looks back through his piano playing years to when he was first given a piano for Christmas.

It has the John Lewis’ sentimental vibe that made their Christmas campaigns famous, and despite having Elton John at its centre, it doesn’t feel too gimmicky or self-indulgent. After a number of years of misfires, it seems John Lewis is back on form.

Sainsbury’s

Beginning with their tribute to the start of the First World War in 2014, Sainsbury’s has been giving John Lewis a run for its money in the Christmas advert department. This year’s offering features a school play and a little girl who is the literal star of the piece. The school musical depicting many of the Christmas home comforts, from the tree and decorations to the turkey and even the Queen’s speech! It’s a charming and humorous take on the Christmas show that almost every school partakes in.

I’d like to know what school has the budget for a show this extravagant though! Even Martin Freeman in Nativity would think it cost a bit much!

Tesco

While it’s one of the UK’s biggest supermarkets, Tesco hasn’t made many Christmas adverts in the big bombastic style of its competitors. This year, they’ve gone for a quirkier and more homely approach. Everyone has their own Christmas traditions, and do’s and don’t for Christmas dinner, and we’ve all discussed at some point whether to have Yorkshire Puddings, how to cook the turkey, or goose, and of course, whether to have sprouts! It’s a very relatable advert that’s also well produced.

Aldi

Although Aldi is known for its lower prices compared to its competitors, it’s not scrimped on its Christmas adverts, with not one, but two festive campaigns! The first of which was a direct spoof of the classic Coca-Cola Christmas advert, featuring a red articulated truck, this time driven by their mascot, Kevin the Carrot. The trip doesn’t quite go as planned and the truck ends up stuck on a cliff, spoofing the end of The Italian Job.

This advert was so convincing it actually fooled people into believing it was a Coca-Cola advert for a few seconds. Some of those even complained!

The second advert is more of a Christmas fairy tale. Showing Kevin rescuing his carrot family from an evil parsnip!

Both these adverts are a fun offset to the more sentimental adverts from John Lewis and Sainsburys, not taking themselves too seriously.

IRN-BRU

And speaking of not taking itself too seriously, that brings us to the last advert of this rundown. A couple of years ago, IRN-BRU released an advert spoofing the Christmas classic The Snowman.

Now, they’ve come out with a sequel, the boy from the original chases after the snowman to get his drink back!

It’s such a well done and affectionate parody because it mimics the original so closely that a casual viewer could mistake it for the real thing!

So those are the most standout Christmas adverts of this year. Which one’s your favourite?