For a while there, it looked as though this Christmas advert season would be different. One by one, big brands have abandoned the weaponised sentimentality of the last decade – a period of time where most Christmas adverts were so busy trying to reduce you to a quivering puddle of snot they forgot to actually try to sell you anything – in favour of something a bit more upbeat.
This year, for instance, Argos has opted to show a rollerskating Chucky doll, while Marks & Spencer spent an inordinate amount of money letting Sophie Ellis-Bextor take a literal flamethrower to the entire concept of Christmas, purely to spite that thirsty headteacher who’s always in the tabloids.
