War of the Christmas Ads

For me, there's nothing that starts off the festive period like an appearance of a Christmas Advert.  Whilst the likes of Marks & Spencer have been producing big budget adverts for a few years now, for most brands I can barely remember anything further back than last year (and that's only because we spoke about the John Lewis one in a lecture).  This year however, we seem to be inundated with the big companies trying to outdo each other, but who did it best?

1.  Marks & Spencer

In our family, it's hard to beat the M&S advert (who can forget 2007's 'Christmas Belles'?) and this year has proved to be no exception.  Feauturing two of the most insanely beautiful models on the planet, this years advert has a tagline of 'Believe in Magic and Sparkles' and brilliantly emulates a few of the best fairytales of our time - firstly my personal favourite of Alice in Wonderland then Aladdin, Little Red Riding Hood and finally moving on to The Wizard of Oz when we see the best part of the advert - Helena Bonham Carter.  The advert invokes not only that nostalgia we all love to experience during the festive season but also offers us that sense of aspiration that all adverts are meant to provoke in their audience.  'Believe in Magic and Sparkles'?  Well it's hard not too with an advert as perfect as this.


2. John Lewis

A John Lewis spokesman recently said that when planning their Christmas Adverts they like to 'connect emotionally' with their audience.  Whilst I'm not the biggest fan of their adverts I can see that this is a valid statement by looking back over previous ads bought to us from the company (2011's advert of the little boy giving his parents a present is a great example of this).  This year however I just didn't get this advert.  The had all the right components for a great Christmas ad;  Lily Allen making a comeback and singing a Keane cover, Disney animators who bought us the likes of The Lion King and an unlikely friendship between a Bear and a Hare, but somehow this still went wrong.  It seemed wrong to me that they spent £7 million on animators just to add in real life gifts (yes I know they need to advertise but it looked odd) and barring the fact that there was a Christmas Tree in the advert, it doesn't make me feel festive at all.

3. Tesco

Tesco's went for the familial angle this year by showing us a collection of home made movies over a number of decades.  We see a young couple through various stages of their relationship, from their first Christmas together, to Christmas with their children with the grandparents, to the children growing up and the young couple becoming the grandparents.  It featured a number of situations we all experience on the day, the excitement of opening our presents, rowing with our parents and of course, celebrating with those we love most, because that is, afterall what Christmas is all about.

4. Harvey Nichols

 

 

Harvey Nichols have used tongue in cheek humour to not only capture our attention this year, but also to promote a new line hitting the stores.  'I Spent It On Myself' is a situation that all of us can relate too, that dreadful feeling when you splurge on yourself knowing you have other to buy for.  To counteract any of us ever having to feel like this again, the brand have come up with a new line of gifts including elastic bands, toothpicks and a sink plug.  Well, as said by one of the self spurgers in the ad, at least you can challenge the recipient as to if anyone else got them a gift from Harvey Nic's.

 

Whilst I have to admit that the M&S is my favourite of those above, there is still no one who can quite contend with the classic Coca-Cola advert.  After all, it really isn't Christmas until you have seen it on your screen.

 

 

 



Review: Les Mis

 

It's easy to get caught in the hype of something, be it a book, a fashion trend or a movie. When something is buzzed about so much though, it can quite often fail to live up to your expectations, something I experienced with a number of things, from Harry Potter to Peplums and 50 shades to wedge trainers. Tom Hoopers Les Miserables however, proved to be the exception to that rule and was every bit as brilliant as it was described.

I've never really been into musicals. I mean Grease or Disney is about as musical as I get and considering that Les Mis was a Hollywood adaptation with such an amazing ensemble cast I assumed it would be something along the same lines - a normal movie with a few choice songs taken from Broadway. However despite the initial dread that set in when I realised I was only ten minutes into a three hour long musical piece, Les Mis turned out to be one of the most amazing things I have ever seen.

Set in the backdrop of 19th Century France, Les Miserables tells a tale of Jean Valjean (Hugh Jackman) an ex prisoner who breaks patrol and is hunted for decades by policeman Jalvart (Russell Crowe). Valjean agrees to take care of dying factory workers Fantine's (Anne Hathaway’s) child Cosette and in doing so, changed his world forever. The film is an emotional rollercoaster that is a story of passion, hate, vengeance, redemption, revolution and ultimately a happy ever after.

Anne Hathaway had approximately on 15 minutes of screen time, in that short time she managed to turn not just me, but most of the audience into an emotional wreck with her beautiful rendition of 'I dreamed a dream'. Hathaway had her hair chopped off for the role on screen, meaning that the scenes where she sells her hair are real and full of the actresses own raw emotion, rendering the scenes as some of the most powerful in the entire picture.

 

 

Sacha Baron Cohen and Helena Bonham Carter amazed as Thernardiers, the guardians of Cosette until Valjean comes to her rescue. The British duo have an onset chemistry to rival that of Bonham Carter and Johnny Depp who have collaborated on a number of occasions, and add some light hearted humour to the otherwise heavy movie. Former Burberry model Eddie Redmayne stars as Cosettes love, Marius and whilst he isn't the best singer, he certainly is pretty to look at. All in all an amazing movie, I highly recommend it.