Directed by Shannon Murphy, the new festive commercial stars James Norton and Lucy Punch while uniting Marks & Spencer's food, fashion, homeware, and beauty lines for the first time since 2017. The high-energy strategy aims to drive sales as the retailer recovers from a costly cyberattack that disabled its website for six weeks earlier this year. Meanwhile, John Lewis is relying on a traditional townhouse setting with Kristin Scott Thomas, a move analysts warn may alienate younger demographics.
Key points
Marks & Spencer designed its unified campaign to appeal to younger consumers and the wide…: Marks & Spencer designed its unified campaign to appeal to younger consumers and the wider mass market.
John Lewis faces criticism that its depiction of wealthy lifestyles risks alienating shop…: John Lewis faces criticism that its depiction of wealthy lifestyles risks alienating shoppers facing economic pressures.
Both major retailers face high stakes as they navigate weak consumer confidence and eleva…: Both major retailers face high stakes as they navigate weak consumer confidence and elevated operating expenses.
Sources checked by our analysis pipeline: 1
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 mood of the nation.
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