It’s a bit early but, according to the internet, these days Christmas officially begins the moment Halloween ends, so we’re going to call it: Waitrose has won the Christmas ads. Christmas advertising is big business. The John Lewis advert is perhaps the most famous; launched in 2007 it has quickly become a seasonal tradition, cemented in the festive run-up and tapping into the emotional roller coaster of the period. Aldi, Matalan and Harvey Nichols (directed by Tim Burton no less) have come out of the ad-gate already and on 5 November, John Lewis’ sister brand Waitrose joined the fray, with its two-parter, Sweet Suspicion, from Saatchi & Saatchi.
The piece begins, predictably enough, in a family home with everyone preparing dinner, until you realise that most of the cast hail from cult TV shows: Succession’s Matthew Macfadyen, Sex Education’s Rakhee Thakrar, Fleabag’s Sian Clifford and Slow Horses’ Dustin Demri-Burns. Next the script, which is witty, subtle, nuanced about the complexities of Christmas, descends into a deliciously-hammy whodunnit – in this case who stole the pudding – tapping neatly into audiences’ love of true crime, detective stories and mysteries and ending in a cliffhanger.
You may also like
A cliffhanger? On an advert? Starring people from all our favourite, ground-breaking TV shows? Now we’re jingling. As Nathan Ansell, the supermarket’s chief marketing officer announced: “Because the advertising season for Christmas starts quite early, sometimes things can fizzle out a bit. So, we wanted to try and find ways of keeping the conversation going with customers.”
@waitrose A family Christmas takes an unexpected turn in this tale of mystery, intrigue… and pudding. The No.1 Red Velvet Bauble Dessert is so good, it’s gone. Someone’s taken it, but who? They’ve all got good alibis, but someone’s not telling the truth 🤔Swap your Santa hats for sleuthing caps and help us crack the case… 🕵️♂️ #WaitroseMystery #ChristmasAtWaitrose #WaitroseChristmasAd
♬ original sound – Waitrose & Partners – Waitrose & Partners
But the team weren’t done spoiling us. On social, two days later, Waitrose dropped ACTUAL Martin Compston and Vicki McClure, two-thirds of the stars from the cultiest TV series of all, Line of Duty, in Christmas jumpers, watching telly. The happy “mates” begin investigating the pudding robbery themselves, like all of us armchair detectives, employing all the favourite Line of Duty lines and sending the internet into meltdown. The social-first video has had 610K views in three hours (at time of writing) and over 1100 comments, here, and has left thousands anticipating an appearance from the other LoD member, Adrian Dunbar, in the next installment. Conversation indeed.
@waitrose When watching the TV, ends up becoming an investigation! 🕵️🔍 Share your theories below to help us turn up the heat. Will we crack the case? To be continued… #WaitroseMystery #ChristmasAtWaitrose #WaitroseChristmasAd
From a talent and social perspective these are powerful themes: Waitrose has harnessed the figures of blockbuster TV series; shows that are endlessly memefied, disseminated online and shift the culture dial. It has been laser-focused on the key interests of its demographic, making a sticky story instead of a sugar-coated illusion. It has created a companion social piece that isn’t merely an edit of what has been delivered to the mainstream.
Lastly, by eschewing the sentimental schmaltz for something genuinely fun and funny, Waitrose and the Saatchi team have done something that feels less like a cynical and manipulative vehicle for the product and more like a genuine gift for their audience. Last year CORQ declared JD Sports the Christmas winner (here) which, although an entirely different production, also adhered to the same themes: cult figures, conversation with its audience and articulation of the brand DNA. This year, we have Clifford furious at the mince pies, Macfadyen with a ludicrously capacious beard, Compston and McClure. All we need is Jesus, Mary and the wee donkey.
By Emilie McMeekan, features director for CORQ.
Retailers’ 2023 Christmas adverts rundown: The good, bad, ugly and the influencers getting in on the action