Supermarket Christmas adverts of 2025: unwrapped!
It’s that time of year again – the 2025 Christmas ads have arrived. UK retailers are leaning on nostalgia, emotion, and smart heuristics to spread festive cheer and drive connection. From heartfelt storytelling to humour and heritage, these campaigns show how powerful psychology makes marketing memorable.
1. Waitrose
Waitrose’s advert, which centres on a wish coming true through the meeting of character Joe (played by comedian Joe Wilkinson) and Kiera (Knightley, playing herself), connecting love and joy to their food, taps into several key psychological drivers:
Affect Heuristic: By linking the act of shopping at Waitrose to the emotional reward of wishes coming true and amplified love, the ad encourages a decision based on positive emotion rather than just rational product comparison.
Aspiration Bias/Wish Fulfilment: The narrative of Joe’s ‘wish’ being granted by a seemingly miraculous event (the romantic meeting) plays on the deep-seated human desire for hope and wonder during the holidays, associating the brand with achieving a better, happier reality.
Celebrity Endorsement & Cultural Anchoring: The use of a well-known actress like Keira Knightley (who is known for festive romance films like Love Actually) instantly gives the brand a borrowed sense of warmth, trust, and glamour. Playing on Love Actually’s iconic cue card scene, Waitrose leverages a beloved, familiar movie moment by replacing the romantic declarations with an “I love You” message on a Waitrose pie. This cultural anchoring associates the brand’s food directly with the feeling of heartfelt Christmas romance and tradition.
2. M&S
M&S Food’s campaign, which stars Dawn French as a commuter whose food fairy-alter ego conjures a party in an M&S food truck, subtly positions its food as the ultimate Christmas gift and a catalyst for togetherness.
Framing Effect: By suggesting M&S food is the “best gift anyone can receive,” the brand frames its product not just as a consumable, but a meaningful, high-value present that brings people together and elevates the celebration.
Celebrity Endorsement & Authority Bias: The inclusion of a celebrity chef like Tom Kerridge, who collaborated on their food range, reinforces the quality and expert authority behind their festive offerings. Celebrity endorsement is a powerful, year-round tool. Think George Clooney for Nespresso (linking luxury and sophistication) or Lebron James for Nike (linking performance and aspirational success). These campaigns leverage the celebrity’s established credibility and positive image to instantly enhance brand value.
Social Proof/Bias: The ad’s focus on bringing a community (the stranded commuters) together for an impromptu festive feast reinforces the idea that M&S is central to shared holiday experiences.
3. Aldi
Aldi’s return of Kevin the Carrot in a two-part, Love, Actually-inspired, light-hearted adventure (culminating in an engagement) leans heavily on familiarity and humour.
Mere Exposure Effect & Familiarity Bias: Bringing back Kevin, a character now celebrating his 10th year, leverages the mere exposure effect. His established presence and storyline build on years of audience fondness and predictable cheer. The familiarity heuristic is used to drive loyalty; campaigns that consistently feature the same well-known jingle, like the GoCompare opera singer, or long-running characters, like the Compare the Market Meerkats, successfully build enduring trust through predictable, repeated exposure.
Humour as a Memory Cue: The ad’s use of silly puns and innuendos increases the memorable and shareable nature of the campaign, which often translates to higher recall and positive brand association.
Anticipation & Suspense: The episodic, two-part release structure creates a suspense/curiosity gap, encouraging viewers to actively seek out and watch the second part, thereby increasing total engagement time with the brand.
4. Asda
Asda’s use of The Grinch to tell a familiar story of a family Christmas feast subtly addresses current economic anxieties.
Nostalgia Heuristic: Featuring an iconic, well-known character like The Grinch immediately evokes a sense of childhood nostalgia and familiarity associated with the classic story.
Anchoring/Price Salience: By featuring The Grinch initially grumbling about “spenny gifts” and “frightful prices” until he encounters the value at Asda, the ad anchors the idea of high Christmas costs before immediately offering Asda as the cost-friendly alternative, making their lower prices feel compelling.
Transformation/Hope: The Grinch’s transformation from cynic to convert parallels the shopper’s journey from anxiety over costs to joyful acceptance – suggesting that shopping at Asda is the way to achieve a happier Christmas despite financial pressures.
5. Sainsbury’s
Sainsbury’s continues its partnership with Roald Dahl’s BFG and a real colleague to save Christmas dinner from a giant, emphasising community and value.
Nostalgia & Familiarity Heuristics: The reunion with the BFG character builds on the success and positive associations established in the previous year, solidifying the brand’s long-term connection to this beloved cultural icon.
Reciprocity Norm/Altruism: The storyline of BFG and the Sainsbury’s colleague protecting the public’s dinners, combined with the brand’s partnership with Comic Relief to donate meals, activates the social norm of altruism and selflessness during the holidays, positioning Sainsbury’s as a responsible, caring brand.
Social Proof (Colleague Sophie): Featuring a real-life colleague in a heroic role adds authenticity and subtly uses social proof. It depicts the dedication of their staff to ensure a good Christmas for all. Social proof is a well-used heuristic since it validates the prodcut through the testimony of real people. L’Oréal embodies the concept of social proof in their “Because I’m Worth It” campaign featuring successful, glamorous spokespeople who represent the brand’s ideal. It suggests that by using the product, you are associating yourself with this ‘worth it’ group of people.
6. Lidl
Lidl’s advert, narrated by a child, focuses on emotional connection and promoting its value while highlighting its charitable Toy Bank initiative.
Emotional Appeal (Innocence/Purity Heuristic): The child’s narration creates a strong emotional appeal and sense of innocence, highlighting the genuine, simple desire for connection over material excess. Using a child’s voice or perspective increases the emotional weight and sincerity of the brand’s proposition. Haribo uses this technique in their iconic Kids’ Voices campaign, linking the product directly to the pure, uninhibited joy of childhood.
Value & Affordability Heuristic: By directly highlighting their lower price point, Lidl addresses the Cost of Living Crisis and reassures value-conscious shoppers.
Integrity/Commitment Cue: Promoting their Toy Bank not only fosters a sense of community but also acts as an integrity cue, validating the ad’s touching, selfless message by demonstrating concrete, charitable action.
7. Tesco
Tesco’s campaign is a series of short vignettes focusing on the relatable, perfectly imperfect family dynamics of Christmas, rather than just the food.
Relatability Bias/In-Group Association: By showcasing the humorous, often chaotic, but utterly familiar family dynamics (like competitive games or awkward conversations), the campaign creates a powerful sense of relatability, making the viewer feel like Tesco truly ‘gets’ their Christmas experience. Brands like Just Eat heavily leverage the relatability bias by showing busy, overwhelmed families ordering takeaway instead of cooking – positioning their service as an easy, stress-free solution to the “What’s for dinner?” question.
Source Credibility & Reassurance: The use of John Bishop’s narration acts as a recognisable and non-judgemental voice. His presence reminds us that the imperfections are “what make Christmas Christmas,” validating the viewer’s own experiences. This reassurance reduces the pressure of achieving an ‘ideal’ Christmas, linking Tesco to comfort and acceptance.
Humour as a Memory Cue: The reliance on humour in these short, punchy clips makes the content highly digestible and memorable, reinforcing the positive association with the Tesco brand through laughter.
Moving beyond simple product showcases, these Christmas campaigns reveal a sophisticated understanding of consumer psychology. Through strategically deploying the Familiarity Heuristic (Kevin the Carrot, BFG, The Grinch), leveraging the Affect Heuristic through aspiration and humour, and strongly activating the Norm of Altruism (Sainsbury’s, Lidl), retailers are expertly building deeper, emotional brand loyalty. Crucially, in a financially sensitive year, the effective use of Anchoring and Value Heuristics (Asda, Lidl) reassures shoppers that both magic and affordability can coexist. These ads prove that the true art of festive marketing lies in connecting a product to a cherished memory, shared value, or a relatable truth; ensuring that the brand is not just seen, but felt, throughout the festive season.
Patience is intent.ly’s marketing executive, with a passion for creative content marketing and social media strategies.
