Boots "Christmas 2013"

Boots win for weirdest song choice this Christmas, with Bronski Beat's "Smalltown Boy", a song whose lyrics address issues like homophobia and bullying, bringing in the festive cheer. No doubting it's a very catchy song, but seems out of tone with the ad and Christmas in general. Created by Mother London, the campaign depicts a young man sneakily giving friends and acquaintances gifts from Boots in light of their own charitable deeds.

Boots made a major misstep in last year's Christmas advert, with numerous complaint of animal cruelty filed due a shot of a dog being blasted with a hair dryer. Obviously clear to avoid controversy this year, the ad is particularly inoffensive. It's not particularly interesting though either. Youtube views have reached 200,000 in the past week, which is a respectable figure. The spot uses the brand’s “It Feels Good” strapline and highlights the retailer has offers on “1000s of Christmas gifts”. Definitely not my favourite of this year's offerings.

John Lewis "The Bear & The Hare"

In direct competition with M&S is John Lewis, a department store that has been lauded for its creative and engaging Christmas ads the past few years. While this piece doesn't feature any celebrity endorsement, it still was a major investment, costing over seven million pounds to create. John Lewis' agency, adam&eveDDB is particularly note worthy in comparing the two rivals campaigns, as adam&eve was founded by ex-staff members of M&S' agency RKCYR/YR, before being purchased  by DDB. The animations in the campaign were provided by a head illustrator from Disney's The Lion King.

The ad documents the story of a hare attempting to show his hibernating bear friend the magic of Christmas, with Lily Allen providing a folksy rendition of Keanes "Somewhere Only We Know" as the soundtrack. It is John Lewis’ most integrated Christmas campaign yet, encompassing an eBook and hardback book, Christmas card maker, social media, in-store and windows, merchandise, digital outdoor projection and soundtrack single.

The campaign has benefitted from a dramatic response on social media. Compared to last year's Christmas ad which has over 3 million Youtube views to date, this year's campaign has amassed 6 million views in the first week of its release. It also boasts near 100,000 Twitter mentions during the same period. Undoubtedly, the brand will consider this venture a complete success. 

Marks and Spencer "Believe in Magic and Sparkle"

Some major brands released their Christmas 2013 advertising campaigns in the last week, so it makes sense to start taking a look at them now, however far away the holiday is. Marks and Spencer spared no expense in this television spot, showcasing stars like Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Helena Bonham Carter and David Gandy. Created by an English agency, RKCY/Y&R, tv spots began airing on the 7th of November. The tagline, "Believe in Magic and Sparkle", is demonstrated throughout the ad with nostalgic nods to children's stories and fairytales.

The advert is beautifully shot and engaging, with a coherent and sweet story line. However, the biggest triumph is the way in which the stores merchandise is displayed. M&S is attempting to reach younger demographics in their clothing offering, and each piece featured in the ad is covetable and on trend. Changing potential consumers perceptions, coming into the Christmas season, will benefit M&S radically.

Prankvertising: John St "ExFEARiential"

Toronto based ad agency John St. have recently created this spoof of the current prankvertising trend. Advising possible clients they'll do anything to get there brand noticed, from fires, kidnapping or inciting riots. The video has impeccable production values and is a great way for an agency to get their name noticed. I personally think that prankvertising is a bit forced and feel the trend will die down as quickly as it began. Out of everything to come out of it, this spoof video has to be my favourite!

Prankvertising: LG "Elevator" and "Stage Fright"

Another of LG's prankvertising videos today. The brand has a real affinity for trying to ramp up sales by scaring people! This video was created by the Amsterdam creative fim, SuperHeroes for the brand in 2012. Again, the video is proof that these types of prank videos create massive internet hype with over 20 million views on this Youtube clip. This prank is a bit more mellow than the last, but still catches out the ad's participants. Remember when viewing that there is a high chance that everyone featured in the ad is a paid actor!

I usually don't feature two advertisements in a blog post, but breaking with the rule today to show the final selection of LG's stint into prankvertising. Created by the same agency as the "Elevator" video, this ad claims to prove how lifelike LG's monitors are by affecting men attempting to use a public urinal with images of beautiful women. The video was uploaded in April of this year and has over 6 million views as of today. 

Prankvertising: LG "Meteor"

Prankvertising is a new trend in video advertisements, and there is no doubts to why companies chose to do it. Done successfully, prankvertising often results in viral videos and increased word of mouth. A pertinent example is this video ad by LG created by Grupolink, a Chilean firm. The ad shot into the public domain, with 14 million views and over 600,000 Facebook shares as of today. Commonly known as the most brutal version of prankvertising yet, many doubted the validity of the stunt, assuming participants were paid actors. The ad also was deemed in poor taste by some media outlets, given the current crisis in Syria.

I'm not entirely sold on the concept of prankvertising, but will show a few examples over the next few days and maybe a satirical view or two. 

IKEA "Kitchen Party"

Looking at the IKEA "Undercover" ad yesterday reminded me of one of my favourite ads from the last few years. "Kitchen Party", created for the UK and Irish markets, was a hugely successful ad, made prominent by the use of Jona Lewie's 1980 hit "You'll Always Find Me in the Kitchen at Parties", covered by Man Like Me. Man Like Me feature as the advertisements protagonists and quickly spiked in popularity as a result, becoming ASOS.com's house band.

The ad was created by Mother London, a London based creative agency. The campaign won a Gold award at the British Arrows in 2011. IKEA also brought out a feature length music video of the ad that is featured below. The ad is humorous, aspirational and creative. IKEA's products are featured heavily and the Youtube video even allows users to click on a product in the video to be directed to the featured product's information. This ad will definitely be one of my favourites for years to come.