Tesco Jumps the Christmas Ad Gun on John Lewis, Betting Nostalgia Beats Humor

Tesco didn't wait for John Lewis to fire the starting gun on Britain's annual Christmas ad war this year. The grocer's new three-minute film, "The Wrong Address," debuted on ITV during Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? on November 1, days ahead of John Lewis's own reveal, and it trades the brand's usual small-moments-of-imperfection humor for something closer to a short film.

Created by agency BBH London, the spot follows delivery driver Polly, played by comedian Roisin Conaty, and Lizzie, played by Anna Maxwell Martin, who reconnect after Lizzie's Christmas groceries get sent to her old address by mistake. Set to The Police's "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic," the two spend the film rekindling an old friendship, with Polly later giving Lizzie a lift home after her car breaks down and making sure her family's delivery still arrives in time for Christmas.

"Christmas still matters deeply, and people will do everything they can to make it special," said Tesco's head of marketing, Alicia Southgate. BBH executive creative director Felipe Serradourada Guimarães called it a more cinematic approach than last year's ad, built around "two characters on an unexpected journey that starts with a simple mistake." Whether cinematic beats comedic remains to be judged by the only panel that matters: British social media, once John Lewis's own ad lands.

Source: B&T

Kyle Duford, Founder & Editor, BRNDWIRE. More from Kyle →