- Waitrose Christmas Advert highlights the care of our farmers, growers, producers, artisan suppliers and Partners, all who feature in this years ad
- ‘It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas’ 60s Waitrose Christmas Ad uses the classic Christmas song by Bing Crosby
- Launched on Tuesday 15th November, premiering on TV in The Great British Bake Off final
Waitrose launched its Christmas campaign, ‘It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas’, which highlights the time and effort our Partners, farmers, growers, producers and artisan suppliers put into every Christmas product all year round, showcasing ‘it’s the care we put in that makes Christmas this special’.
Cast of Partners
Our ‘It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas’ advert, which has been created by adam&eveDDB, and shot by Academy Award-nominated director Henry-Alex Rubin, and has used a cast made up of our real life Partners and suppliers (with only the celebrating family as actors) working in all weather conditions from 1st January through to the festive season to ensure a special Christmas.
Each of the preparation scenes depict various challenges we face throughout the year, including one of our pork farmers smashing through an iced over drinking trough, fences being put up with lighting in the background, farmers working through the hot summer to get their crops ready, Brussels sprout picking in the torrential rain and apple picking in high winds at our Leckford Estate farm.
We also get an insight into the finishing details for some of this year’s festive favourites such as our No.1 Blood Orange and White Chocolate Quenelle, expertly finished by our Senior Development Chef, Will Torrent, one of our Fish Specialists Alfonso (Alf) Perez carefully portioning our Fresh Whole Scottish Salmon and our No.1 Cherry & Amaretto Stollen being hand finished.
‘Food To Feel Good About’
Emma Isaac, Head of Marketing at Waitrose said: “Christmas is a very special period, and we don’t often talk about the time and effort our Waitrose Partners and our many farmers, growers and producers spend making the day magical for our customers. This year we wanted to do something different from the norm that’s inspired by our Partnership Purpose and builds on why Waitrose food is ‘Food To Feel Good About’. So, we decided the care, hard work and dedication of our suppliers and Partners deserved the spotlight in this year’s campaign because at the end of the day we couldn’t do Christmas without them.”
From 6am on Tuesday 15 November, our Partners will be the first to see the advert before it launches on waitrose.com at 7:30am and on our social channels at 8am. The 60 second advert uses the Christmas classic - ‘It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas’ by Bing Crosby. The ad will first air on television on Tuesday 15th November during the final of The Great British Bake Off. It will also run on video on demand platforms, cinema, BVOD, YouTube and online video all planned by MG OMD.
‘Unique take on Christmas’
Matt Gay, Creative Director at adam&eveDDB, said: “It’s becoming increasingly difficult to stand out at Christmas, making it tempting to create epic narratives with heaving tables of food. But we just didn’t feel that was the right approach, considering the social climate. So when we saw a script that had a unique take on Christmas, it felt like a refreshing way to go.”
Taking a multi-channel approach
Hannah Gardner, Business Director at MG OMD, said: “This year we needed to diversify our channel mix, be smarter with our phasing and adjust to our audience’s behaviours; to overcome the challenges around inflation, scale and competition. We are thrilled to see our campaign launch in the biggest shows on TV, first with the Bake Off Final, followed by a spot in I’m A Celeb, alongside a diverse AV mix to showcase our story of Care at Christmas. Beyond AV, we have a multi-channel approach that delivers on impact and innovation, to really get our audience excited for what is to come this season from Waitrose.”
As part of our campaign, we’ll also be launching a number of product adverts* from 17th November
Waitrose Free-Range Bronze Feathered Turkey
Heston from Waitrose Fig and Pear Mince Pies in Triple Cheese Pastry with Heston from Waitrose Tipsy Potted Stilton
Heston from Waitrose Hot Chocolate Pennies
Waitrose No.1 Blood Orange and White Chocolate Quenelle
Like the John Lewis ad before it, the message of care sits at the heart of our Waitrose Christmas ad - in this instance, showing the great care that goes into producing our products at Christmas.
At the John Lewis Partnership we are driven by our purpose to create a happier world. As well as continuing to take measures to support our suppliers through challenging times, we want to help young people leaving the care system - a group that often face huge inequalities. We’ve made a long term commitment to give more young care leavers employment opportunities and have recently launched our Building Happier Futures programme to support this ambition.
Notes to Editors
*We will also be supporting these and some additional products in print (national press, weekend supplements and foodie monthly titles), national out of home sites and digital display.
Brand Ad Scene Synopsis
The opening scene shows a holly wreath hanging on a front door that is promptly taken down. Christmas lights are switched off and a Christmas tree is dragged towards a garden waste recycling bin before a farmer adds another piece of it to the recycling.
Next we see a calendar as someone tears off the final page of the year, revealing January 1st – a new year has begun.
On a cold morning we see a farmer breaking through ice on a water trough for her pigs to drink from. In a wintry field we see another farmer mending his fence as a storm brews in the distance. He checks the blister on his hand – the result of all his hard work.
It’s now spring and we see a beekeeper smoking her bees and a close up of the honeycomb as she gently turns and inspects it.
We see the summer sun high in the sky before a farmer on a tractor shows off his tan to his friend. The other farmer shakes his head and nods to his own tan in a friendly competition.
We see a stollen being hand decorated with the final glacé cherries being carefully placed on top.
Next we’re at the Leckford Estate vineyard and see a grape on a vine where a water droplet drips off. The Leckford fizz is poured into a glass and we see the bubbles rising to the top.
Next we’re in a forest glen and see free range turkeys roaming around the forest floor. Nettles are picked and painted onto Cornish Yarg cheese.
In an autumnal orchard, Leckford farmers are picking apples when one’s hat blows off. His friend tries to catch it.
Back in winter now, we see a farmer in his sprout field battling high winds. He stoops down and cuts one sprout free to check it’s ready for harvest.
In the Waitrose development kitchen, two chefs are at work and we see one expertly dusting a Quenelle dessert.
A farmer opens the door of his shed revealing the snowy courtyard.
Salmon is filleted by a Waitrose fishmonger in store.
A Waitrose driver delivers a crate of Waitrose food to a home. We see a wreath on the front door mirroring that of the opening scene – it’s clearly Christmas again.
In the home sprouts and pancetta are placed on the table while two cheeky kids nab pigs in blankets before they’re seated. The turkey is put down and we see pigs in blankets being passed around. As the dish gets to the little boy we see there are none left and he has a small meltdown. His family tries not to laugh – it’s a familiar scene!
His big sister comes over to save the day, offering him her pig in blankets. He accepts and we see a huge smile on his face and he eats it – the family looking on and smiling.
Team Behind the Advert
Creative Agency: adam&eveDDB
Media Planning & Buying: MG OMD
Production company: Smuggler
Director: Henry-Alex Rubin
DOP: Kaspar Tuxen
Producer: Ray Leakey
MD/Exec Producer: Lucy Kelly
Production Manager: Mike Carr
Production Designer: Agnieszka Debska
Wardrobe Designer: Poppy Bell
Hero Casting: Annabel Kennedy
Editor: Scot Crane
Post Production: Untold
Audio Post Production: Factory
Music Supervisor: Theodore Music
