Christmas Ad Review 2015: Boots #DiscoverMore or #NoBootsStoreLooksAnythingLikeThis

Promise, large promise, is the soul of advertising. So said Samuel Johnson in the 18th century. Boots have certainly taken that on board in this incredibly puffy ad.

What do they expect to achieve with this spot?

The ad shows some brands you might be surprised to find in Boots – fine. But they are really setting customers up for a massive disappointment when they go to their Boots store expecting ‘a world of elegance, pampering, luxury, fun and fragrance’ but find a 1980s vinyl sneeze fest.

And what’s with the ‘curious blue firefly’? Two problems. One: I don’t think fireflies leave trails of smoke – blue or otherwise. Two: I firefly is a fly not a little dot. Is it really relevant to the ad at all? It seems more like #WeHadTwoConceptsButCouldn’tDecideWhichWasBest. One the one hand they wanted a glamorous, show tune, strictly come shopping feel and on the other they wanted to create a character cause, you know, Monty the Penguin was good.

The ad is a meatball sundae.

Christmas Ad Review 2015: John Lewis #ManOnTheMoon – It’s sentimental, Jim, but not as we know it.

After a prolonged break from blogging – brought on by having to teach a new module here at Notts – it’s time for a Christmas advert review. I’ll start with the archetypal Christmas ad brand (for the last three years anyway) – John Lewis.

I know I’m way behind the curve here but here’s my thoughts. Immediately, I hated the music sync. It’s a Christmas ad so it HAS TO BE slow, dreary, and breathe-y. I actually like music with those features normally. (Some – ie me – would say that in my previous life I had a hand in this genre). Yet it’s just horrible. Music for people that don’t like music. It just screams: #REMWouldn’tLetUsUseTheSongWeWanted.

Then there’s the execution. If the concept aims to foster the joy of sharing with people less fortunate than us, guess what John Lewis: there’s lots of people on earth in that situation. In fact there’s loads of old people on earth in that guy’s situation. The ad would be far more moving if it was about these people. If, for example, the reveal at the end showed the old guy in a flat over the road from the girl it would have been a better ad.

I would have happily told you this before you made the ad if you’d asked!