Grocery store Waitrose Saves Social gathering Mishaps in Christmas Advert

The tree is lit and the hosts are bedazzled for his or her Christmas celebration, however issues hold going fallacious. First the visitors arrive too early, then two folks get locked within the lavatory and the ability goes out. 

But the revelers can overlook these mishaps, as a result of the true star of the celebration is meals like mince pies, salmon mousse and panettone from Waitrose, the premium British grocery store.  

Waitrose has a easy message this vacation season: “Even when issues go awry, nice meals makes all of it higher,” mentioned Nathan Ansell, the retailer’s buyer director. 

Because the Christmas promoting frenzy begins–typically referred to as the U.Okay.’s “Tremendous Bowl”–Waitrose is attempting to face aside by defying vacation advert tropes. There aren’t any saccharine household gatherings or lush banquets on this 12 months’s marketing campaign, which as a substitute represents “a enjoyable, grown-up Christmas,” mentioned Franki Goodwin, chief artistic officer of company Saatchi & Saatchi. 

The model’s artistic departure comes after Saatchi & Saatchi earlier this 12 months gained the promoting account for Waitrose and its sister retailer John Lewis (whose much-anticipated Christmas advert shall be launched later in November). That is additionally the primary vacation marketing campaign below Ansell, who joined Waitrose at the start of 2023. 

The brand new advertising and marketing chief and company purpose to inject the model with extra humor and modernity, whereas additionally “making it extra accessible,” mentioned Ansell. As a result of Waitrose is an upmarket grocery retailer, it’s usually seen as a vacation spot for particular events moderately than an on a regular basis store.  

The marketing campaign continues Waitrose’s tagline, “Meals to Really feel Good About,” which it launched in 2022 to emphasise high quality, style, worth and ethics. 

The advert’s characters who attend the adults-only vacation celebration are extra consultant of the model’s demographic–“they occur to be meals lovers and individuals who like to host,” mentioned Goodwin. There’s even a cameo from Graham Norton, an Irish comic and common TV host within the U.Okay. 

Regardless of the movie star look and fancy meals, Waitrose’s advert is about “embracing imperfections” and the humorous facets of holidays, Goodwin defined. 

Filmmaker Autumn de Wilde–who made the 2020 film Emma–directed the advert and helped create its “heightened sitcom vibes,” Goodwin added. The soundtrack is Depeche Mode’s 1981 hit Simply Can’t Get Sufficient. 

Not only for Christmas

Along with the 90-second movie, which debuts on Nov. 2, Waitrose will run product-focused adverts spotlighting mince pies, celebration meals, turkey and desserts. It additionally launched a teaser on Halloween, through which a lady dressed as a witch gives younger trick or treaters a tray of mince pies–a British deal with normally related solely with Christmas.