Shaun the Sheep has always occupied a niche and rather beloved space in the English national psyche.
First tottering onto screens in a Wallace and Gromit film (the one with the robot dog, remember?) he quickly eclipsed the protagonists and struck out on his own, spawning a sheep-fuelled empire comprising plush toys, a TV series, a film and probably countless merch tie-ins. Some of my most formative memories are of watching the pint-sized hero get into all manner of scrapes – remember the one where he broke out of prison? Or founded a (bear with me) baa-baa shop quartet?
Business is booming for Shaun and Friends, so naturally, it was only a matter of time before our fluffy hero and his flock of pals broke into the increasingly lucrative Christmas ad market. And what better partner with which to do so (except for, you know, a wool-based one) than Barbour, another quintessentially English brand, and one where the puns basically write themselves.
Still, corporate cynicism aside, Aardman has clearly lost none of their magic touch. The ad's focus is on the (still unnamed) Farmer’s run-up to Christmas. And wouldn’t you know it, his jacket just keeps breaking: he runs over it with a sheep shearer, jams a pair of pliers through his pocket… the list goes on.
In the spirit of Christmas and goodwill and all that, the sheep and dog Bitzer team up to repair the jacket the best way they know how: though good old-fashioned arts and crafts. The holes are stitched up with a Wallace and Gromit-style knitting contraption, combs and a mousetrap (!) replace the zip and its toggle and the whole thing gets a going over with melted wax in an attempt to waterproof the fabric. Is it any surprise that the entire thing falls apart the minute he puts it on?
The premise of the ad, of course, is that make-n-mend is best left to the professionals at Barbour – or, even better, a new jacket can presumably be purchased for hefty sums for those who are fans of that box-fresh feeling.
But quell the doubts and bask in the magic of it all: it's still undeniably cute. Yes, this is an excuse to shift merch, but any reason to have a minute and a half more of Shaun in our lives is a good one. Baa-rilliant stuff.
