This year’s Christmas ads are… something else.

Hi, I'm Clare Bailey, founder of Retail Champion.

In this episode I'm sharing what I feel are my winners and losers of this year's Christmas TV ads offerings.

Aldi’s running a full carrot-wedding cinematic universe. Waitrose is flirting with nostalgia. Sainsbury’s has the BFG saving Christmas and partnering with Comic Relief. And John Lewis… well, I’m still trying to work out what actually happened there.

I'll walk you through the standout festive campaigns of 2025 — the clever ones, the chaotic ones, and the ones that accidentally make you question how a five-year-old can afford Pandora jewellery.

We talk emotion, nostalgia, characters, purpose, retail logic (or lack of it), and which ads genuinely nudge shoppers to take action.

Expect honesty. Expect a few eye rolls. And expect to walk away seeing Christmas advertising a little differently.

Thanks for listening, and remember — if you see a carrot on a plate before Boxing Day, it’s probably Aldi’s fault.

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Hello, festive ad fans. Grab yourself a mince pie or something stronger

because we're about to roast, cheer and occasionally face palm

through some of this year's Christmas ads.

I'm Claire Bailey, the retail champion, and this is the retail reckoning

Christmas ads. 2025 deep dive.

Yeah. Retail reckoning.

Retail reckoning. No space for

dusty shelves. Cause Retail

Reckon.

So we have to start with Kevin the carrot, because he's back and it's his

10th anniversary. Can you believe it? And this year, he's

proposing to Katie. And there's a collie dog.

Kevin's Christmas proposal had been long overdue.

A few weeks later, he was on his stag do.

Hello, Katie, it's Kelvin. We've lost Kevin.

Adorable. Somewhat ridiculous. And is that going to make the

kids say, oh, I can't eat cauliflower because it's a dog.

Or maybe, like me, I can eat cauliflower because it's a dog,

because I remember my dad telling me that I'd only eat carrots if he told

me there were goldfish. Anyway, I digress. The teaser

episode nods heavily to love, actually, when Kevin holds up cue cards

outside Katie's door, reading to me, you are

24 carat. And then, merry Christmas.

Cue swooning. Now he goes off on his

stag do. He ends up in a bit of a pickle. At the North Pole,

he gets rescued by a train, which basically is the Polar

Express, although obviously they've not called it that, and he arrives

late to the wedding. However, there's a bit of a cliffhanger

before his arrival and it ends on one of the ads

with the carrots, obviously Katie, and I'm presuming Katie's

carrot father, and it ends with the statement on this dinner table,

will they actually get married or is it too late?

Well, I think I've got a better version. I'm really sorry, ad agencies,

but this one resonates with me. Will they actually get

married or end up on a plate? Because seriously, the last

place a carrot who wants to survive should be at

Christmas is on a dinner table. Also, if

you've missed this, there is a limited edition karat gold

engagement ring. Yes, Aldi have literally put

a ring out. Marketing genius. Pure madness. Probably a bit of

both. I wonder how many people will actually go to Aldi to get one

and while they're there, spend some money. That would be a good outcome

for an

advertisement.

Next, we've got Waitrose and it's

Keira Knightley and there's a TV version and there's sort of a

YouTube version as well, so it's sort of an integrated campaign. It's quite

clever. Sussex charmer, please.

I'm Kira. I'm Kira. I mean, I'm Phil.

Phil.

Thank you.

Nice to meet you, Phil Felt. Yeah. Now,

speaking of the cue cards, in the advert that Waitrose have

put out, Keira Knightley says, please say you don't have

cue cards. And this is a subtle and cheeky nod

to love, actually, again, of course, which catapulted her to

fame many years ago. Now with the billboard style

expression of love from her now husband's

best friend. I don't know. I love it. It's playful

brand banter through storytelling. Aldi's got the carrot

romance. Waitrose has a bit more sophistication and

a bit of a wink. It's almost as though the supermarkets are talking to

each other through Christmas ads and the billboard cue card style

things. It's pretty clever also, because it's quite

heartwarming and it does play a lot back

to the original storyline of Love, actually. It's the only

one that's made me well up a little bit. But then I actually

love Love, actually.

Moving on, we've got Sainsbury's with the BFG

and a Comic Relief involvement.

So the BFG ad is a giant

sized, heartwarming bucket of goodness. The

BFG works with Annie, a store assistant, to stop the

greedy giant from ruining Christmas by eating all the food.

Annie invites him back for dinner with them and says, there's

always room for one more at Christmas because it's Christmas.

Even if you're literally a giant, it's very sweet.

You haven't got room for an old sage and onions like me.

It's Christmas. We'll make room.

Come on, then. Want to be ready for anything this Christmas?

Ask Sainsbury's. Sainsbury's. Good

food for all of us. But what I hadn't realised when I first

saw it is that this campaign ties in with Comic Relief.

And Sainsbury's are also going to be delivering over 5 million meals to

families at risk of food poverty this year. And it's a reminder that

Christmas advertising can both be emotional storytelling and

add meaningful value. In

contrast, you've got Tesco with a

very tongue in cheek. That's what makes it Christmas.

I'd say it's a bit over the top, but nonetheless relatable. I'm sure

it's a bit Little Britain of Christmas ads in that

it amplifies some of the anecdotes about everything

that can not be so great about hanging out with family at Christmas

and writing. Christmas cards for people you barely know. Why are you telling people my

personal business? It's Christmas. What do you

do? He's touching me. Forgetting one nice family

photo. You drew a circle. It could be anything. It's a biscuit.

It celebrates funny, awkward and embarrassing family moments that

happen when everyone comes together. It's kind of like a miniseries linked

by the phrase or the tagline. That's what makes

it Christmas. I chuckled, but it hasn't quite got

the tug on the heartstrings of many of the others. I'm not

sure it's going to necessarily make me want to walk into a Tesco either.

Now, John Lewis advert has been

heralded as really good, but I find it very

confusing what it does. It takes us to the 90s with

the song Where Love Lies a son gifts

a vinyl record to his dad. The son seems a bit grumpy.

Why don't you take my hand? Come away,

come out of the boo.

But then dad seems to be clearing up wrapping paper from the floor. Did he

overlook the record under the tree? Did they miss the

moment? I've never quite fathomed the storyline here. The ad's

nostalgic and it's got some club culture and so on, and it's set to Alison

Limery, but my take is a bit abstract.

I mean, compared to prior years. Think about man on

the Moon and Hare and Bear. I can still hear in my mind's

eye the Hare and Bear song and I can

still recall the man on the Moon. But I'm not sure this one's really

hitting the heartstrings in the way they did. It's definitely a

mood piece over a story. I'm still scratching my head what actually

happened there. Is it emotional? Yeah.

Is it a cohesive Christmas story? Hmm.

Take away the Christmas tree. It's just a son giving his dad a record that

reminds him of his past. So that one's not really

my winner, despite the fact some people are saying

it's amazing. Maybe I'm just not the target market.

What did make me smile?

What did make me smile, moving slightly off retail

into travel was the TUI advert. Elves Gone

Rogue.

Links to the whole elf on the shelf thing that's come about

in recent years. They've gone for full on holiday chaos.

Santa's taken the day off, so the elves are hitting the beach. You see them

on the flight, you see them having a massage in a Cabana.

You see them wind surfing, building sandcastles and

just having a lot of fun. It's laugh out loud,

it's cheeky, it's kind of irrelevant. But what it does

is perfection for a travel brand. It says, whilst you're sat at home in

the miserable, dark, cold nights where you know it's more dark than

light in the daytime at the moment, it makes you think, oh, look, the sun,

the sand, the sea. I wish I was there. And a lot of people are

known to book holidays on Boxing Day, so

I wouldn't be surprised if it didn't sort of provoke people to

think, I don't want to do this again, I want to go away next year.

I can't stand all these long dark nights and I want to have something

sunny and happy to break up the winter. So I don't

know, maybe that's a really genius way. It won't necessarily create immediate

sales unless they've got some last minute Christmas deals, but it might

provoke people to book for next year.

Then I come on to the Pandora ad. I have issues with

this for a start. It's really a bit cheesy. It

starts with a mum tucking in her son, who's probably what, five or

six? God only knows what

I'd be without. And saying to him at bedtime, I

love you to the moon and back. All words to that effect. It's very sentimental.

But then on what is said to be Christmas Eve,

the little kid takes a note and goes out to what

can only be described as if Disney did high streets to

a Pandora store. It's all very candy floss and pink and so

on. And he hands over the note. I don't see any evidence of any

money. And gets a little gift box. And he comes back

with a bracelet for his mum. And it's got a moon hanging on it.

It's stylized, it's beautiful, it's emotional, but

it's not realistic, is it? I mean, let's face it, you do not let

a small child go out to the shops on their own. And no

small child can afford this. I mean, where's he got the money

from? We all know that it's not the cheapest gift in the world. So the

concept's adorable, but it's slightly ridiculous in

practice.

Again, moving away from traditional retail. I'm looking at EE

and they've got this wi fi mayhem thing going on. So they're

showing the chaos of family gatherings, people descending,

bringing in desserts, taking off the shoes, playing games, doing all

sorts of this and that. And then all of a sudden everyone's demanding the WI

fi. What's

the word? That's what irritates me. I say to

myself, really, can't we spend just five minutes

offline without sulking? Why did you bother going round and

visiting your family if you can't actually sit together and enjoy each other's company?

But then a boy's been practicing some sign language and he

gets his mum to drive him over to see a friend where he sign languages

to the friend and then you see them sitting together at their house.

So it's two stories in one. A little bit confusing,

possibly a clever tech plug, but I just find it

rather rude to the hosts when everyone starts demanding WI fi.

It's as though I'm bored now. Get me phone out. Can't be

bothered to talk to you. I mean, it might be a reality of life, but

it's not exactly the Christmas spirit.

Next up, I'm looking at Argos and it kind of does what it says on

the tin. It starts with a guy who's not done his Christmas

shopping and somebody suggests Argos to him and he says, oh,

Argos, that's just toys, isn't it?

Look who's on the naughty list.

Drive time. We taught

you a lesson. And then two

rather scary, militant looking toys in the back of the car almost

basically hijack him and make him drive to a

sort of showroom warehouse to prove to him that Argos

has got a lot more showcasing homeware, personal

care, tech and so on. It's relatively amusing,

but just really straight up, we've got everything you need type

ad. It's efficient with a little bit of humour. It's

very safe. One that I do like

is Boots, or rather Puss in

Boots. And they've gone fairy tale.

The Snow Queen's Ball. I need gifts. Mirror, mirror,

where should I go? So Puss in Boots in Boots

needs to buy gifts for the Snow Queen's Ball.

It's quite fun. It showcases a spot sort of gift offerings they've

got. It's relatively magical and visually

rather charming. It doesn't so much reinvent the wheel,

but, you know, it's good and it's probably one of

the more cutesy fairy

tale type adverts that they've got out there this year.

And to be fair to Boots, it does showcase some of the gifting products.

Next up, Lidl and Asda. They're both quite similar.

They're sort of showcasing value with mischief. They're keeping it

simple with a little Bit of cheek. Time isn't money

anymore, it's just time.

And instead of thinking what we want.

All the prices this year are frightful.

Spending gifts. I've seen a sightful.

We're getting quite low on dough. Excuse me. It's a

no. It's a no. It's a big on value, small on mischief,

little wink for the shoppers, just really what the brands are about.

No over complicated plot lines, Solid, festive

fun and a smile while you shop. And they are at least

showcasing product. Ms.

Food have got a couple out, but I like the traffic jam one

where Dawn French turns a gridlocked road into a festive

feast. I can't wait to see.

Oh, how long have we been here? Oh, I know,

they're singing, driving home for Christmas. There's chaos on the

roads, plus indulgence because they've accessed a load of M and

S food and it's sort of the M and S magic light,

playful. But what they do is showcase the food

and they show us, you know, some of the canapes in that wonderfully well

presented and well lit way that M and S are really good at when it

comes to their indulgent food advertising all year

round. So it is probably

another good one. So I think my

favorites really Aldi, just for the sheer madness of it,

Puss in Boots for the sort of big theatricals.

M and S, because they tell the product,

really. And yeah, Tui because it's. It's a lot of

fun. Just really a lot of fun indeed. To sum

up observations and cheeky themes, what are these ads telling us

about retail in 2025? First observation

is characters still rule. We've got Kevin,

Katie and Collie Dog, the BFG and the naughty

giant Puss in Boobs because people are remembering

faces, even if the faces are on a vegetable. The other one.

And this one I think brings home to me a

successful advert is that purpose matters. When

Sainsbury's and Comic Relief come together, they've got emotional

storytelling and real world impact that is

sufficient to convince me to maybe even

if I wasn't going to already spend with Sainsbury's,

because I feel that this advert tells me when you buy your

Christmas meals with us, you will get to be

able to see the benefit of your spend or your profit going

towards something really positive. So it makes it easy for

me to do a good thing. And I think also

when I come onto Argos, obviously Sainsbury's incorporate

Argos and they can bounce off each other there. But Meanwhile, I think

nostalgia is a bit tricky unless you hit the absolute right age group,

because I don't know that song, man, I'm too old, probably, or I

just missed it in my youth. So, John Lewis. Yeah.

Abstract, divided audience. I don't think the younger people will know

it either. And I feel like John Lewis has got so much to say.

They've got the story about how great their after sales service

is, how much effort they put into giving

good on the shop floor service and curating the sale, not selling what

they want to sell just because it makes them more money, but selling, you know,

ethically what people need. So if granny comes in

and granddaughter or grandson has asked for a particular piece of

tech and they don't understand what it's all about, then the

person on the shop floor in John Lewis is that person that can guide them,

advise them. I'd have done more with storytelling if it was down to me, but

then I'm not an advertising agency. Maybe somebody knows something I don't, but

that's not going to make me go to John Lewis this year, despite the fact

apparently they've got a special edition of that vinyl out. Then you've got human

mischief selling. So that mixes, you know the two elves

I love, they're so much fun. And Dawn French in

the Traffic Jam and then also the little in Asda's, the cheeky but

value antics. I think that's all good fun, but the standout

for me are the two elves. They're making me think, why

am I sat here in this cold, dark, miserable weather when I could be on

a beach? And the elves are inspiring me to want to book a holiday. And

with the traffic jam because they focus into the food,

that makes me think, oh, I might pop down to M S and get

a couple of those nice nibbly bits, get some friends over before going

out for New Year or something, have some canapes. I mean,

I'm quite tempted by the fish and chip bites and so on. So they've

done a really good job of integrating the food into the story. And that

also is an advert that makes me think I need to pop in and have

a look. Whereas I can't say that unless I want to buy

Kevin the carrot ring thing, that I have any

overwhelming extra desire to go to Aldi

because of the advert than any other desire. I had to go to Aldi

before Sainsbury's. Yes, they've piqued my interest. Two

E&M s. And then back to my point

about Argos So Argos is a straight shooter and straight shooters

win. It says we have what you need. It's simple and honest.

But the point is, Argos is within Sainsbury's, so

you can say you've got everything we need, you come and click and collect

or whatever, but you're already then in a Sainsbury's. So the

two are bouncing off each other and hopefully the footfall

between the two will then benefit each more

than it would have done. So there's a synergy there. Come to Argos to pick

up everything you need, but while you're there, buy your food from Sainsbury's. Come to

Sainsbury's to buy your food, but while you're there, you might as well pick up

from Argos. It works well anyway. So there you have it. This year, we've got

Kevin proposing the bfg, saving dinners, dads unwrapping

vinyls, elves on shelves on the beach and a small kid with

apparently money and the ability to wander off by

himself. Defying all retail logic, we've got a wink of value

from Lidl and Asda. So 2025. It's

chaotic, clever and a little bit ridiculous. No, pretty good, though.

Pretty good. There are a few retailers there that I would go to as a

result of their advertising campaign.

So there we have it. Happy Christmas. Happy retail. Remember,

if you see a carrot on a plate before Boxing Day, it's probably all

Aldi's fault. Thank you for listening. I'm Claire

Bailey, the retail champion, and this has been a fun, festive

edition of Retail Reckoning.

Retail Reckoning. No space for

dusty shelves.

The floor.