All I want for Christmas, is some decent adverts!
It’s our BahHumbug time, and we have all we need to get grumpy about this season. Tis the season to get absolutely bloody furious at the TV due to the dire adverts, all trying to be jolly, but ending up plain irritating. There is no numerical order in the list, but feel free to put them from bad to ugly. Personally for me if something looks like crap and smells like crap, then it is crap there’s no scale, it just is.
Toys'R'Us
Receiving a conservative 4.5 turds rating on Adturds it's that advert that we all used to love and adore, the advert that signified the coming of Christmas, no it wasn’t perfect, yes it was slightly cheesy, but it was great, and we loved it. Now in its place is a bright and colourful… turd. Americanised to it’s veneered shiny white teeth it’s the new Toy’s R Us advert… when it’s on I close my eyes and sing “There’s a magical place; We’re on our way there; With toys in their millions’ All under one roof...” Well done Toys R Us, brand equity down the toilet.
Jumping on the XFactor bandwagon this year it’s M&S, they had a few teething errors to start with as one contestant was enjoying the wrong kind of ‘snow’ this Christmas. It’s just not got the M&S vibe, where’s the opulence, where’s the decadent shots of wonderfully srumptious food, get those irritating little gits off my telly!
Littlewoods
Bad move Littlewoods, you just killed Santa. The Grinch would be proud. However, your customers are distraught. Even the usual Grinch the ASA don’t like it, but it’s not really breaking any rules so they have to grin and bear it just like we have to. Thanks Littlewoods, have a nice Christmas with your creditcard. I’m still leaving a carrot out for Rudolf.
Argos
Words don’t come to mind for this advert, other than please turn off the TV. What Argos say on Youtube:
“our new Christmas advert... starring aliens! Having recently arrived from their far-off and Argos-less planet, they are quickly finding their feet and are most excited about all the cool stuff we have”
The ASA should ban this advert for being degrading to all the lovely E.T’s out there. And also painting them as slightly perverse the ‘mmm, Bieber’ comment from the lady alien sends a shiver up my spine every time. No it’s not funny, and yes it’s weird. I’m sure he may be of legal age, but surely only just. As Adturds puts it so profoundly “Just imagine the Dad [alien] lusting after Hermoine Granger and see how you feel about that.” Very true. However, Santa can put Granger in my stocking if he likes.
Here’s some stats: 699 likes / 152 dislikes – That’s 17% of people who have bothered to ‘not like / like’ not liking it! If this doesn’t increase to at least 50% sometime soon I’m going to lose all hope in humanity.
One person said:
"The Argos "Alien" adverts are absolutely the worst ever! Why don't Argos just concentrate on their offers instead. These adverts make me want to switch the TV [off]... which probably isn't a bad thing!"
However, and I don’t know why some people find it hilarious…
"As a conundrum, it's up there with Justin Bieber and eggnog." I love this ad <3” “This is the funniest advert I have ever seen”
Perhaps I’m missing something…
Halfords
This advert has a nice idea behind it, however the execution is unbearable. It gives you a headache from the get go and is sustained until the bloody thing finishes. That’s all I have to say.
Boots
I wish the girls wouldn’t come, in fact I hope they never come again. The advert is playing on the same old theme, that has been executed nicely before. However, this time around it comes across just a touch too cheesy for me.
Ok so my rant is over now, I hope you've enjoyed the post and please tweet us @brandthing if you'd like to add more to the list or just to wish us a Merry Christmas!
