It’s that special time of the year when the nation puts aside its difference to yell a collective “ALREADY??” as the Christmas adverts begin their annual onslaught.
Britain’s biggest retailers always seem to spruik their festive wares earlier every season, and this year will be no different.
Both Marks & Spencer group plc and J Sainsbury PLC (LSE:SBRY) have pushed their TV spots ahead of schedule and in front of standard bearer John Lewis Partnership.
The Guardian theorised that supermarket chains are adapting to customers trends, as they bring forward purchases in order to spread yuletide spending obligations.
M&S will air its clothing and home advertisement this Friday, 9pm on Channel 4, just before Tom Daly, Charlotte Church and mouthy chef Gordon Ramsay lend their armchair hot takes on Gogglebox.
‘Tis the season of giving, and M&S’s food advert has already gifted us French and Saunders as a talking crochet duck and fairy duo.
Sainsbury’s has notably brought its TV spot forward one week, marking the first time that the supermarket’s Christmas advertisement will come before Armistice Day.
This Morning presenter Alison Hammond and a rather decadent Christmas pudding are the stars of that one. A remix of Wheatus’ 2000 one-hit wonder ‘Teenage Dirtbag’ is thrown in as a bonus.
Of course, British Christmas advertisements can be divided into two eras: Pre-2011 and post-2011.
That year saw John Lewis debut ‘The Long Wait’, an admittedly sweet two-minute advertisement with one of the cutest plot twists in TV history.
Many have tried, but the magic of ‘The Long Wait’ has yet to be replicated.
We don’t yet know what surprises John Lewis’ Christmas ad will bring us this year, but the producers likely want to strike a tone that’s sympathetic to the nation’s cost-of-living crisis.
We’ll soon find out, but chances are slim to none that the partnership’s offering will beat out ASDA.
The budget supermarket chain has changed the game with a star turn from Will Ferrell as the iconic Buddy the Elf.
Can John Lewis beat that? No elfin' way!