This year’s Christmas ads are… something else.

Hi, I'm Clare Bailey, founder of Retail Champion.

In this episode I'm sharing what I feel are my winners and losers of this year's Christmas TV ads offerings.

Aldi’s running a full carrot-wedding cinematic universe. Waitrose is flirting with nostalgia. Sainsbury’s has the BFG saving Christmas and partnering with Comic Relief. And John Lewis… well, I’m still trying to work out what actually happened there.

I'll walk you through the standout festive campaigns of 2025 — the clever ones, the chaotic ones, and the ones that accidentally make you question how a five-year-old can afford Pandora jewellery.

We talk emotion, nostalgia, characters, purpose, retail logic (or lack of it), and which ads genuinely nudge shoppers to take action.

Expect honesty. Expect a few eye rolls. And expect to walk away seeing Christmas advertising a little differently.

Thanks for listening, and remember — if you see a carrot on a plate before Boxing Day, it’s probably Aldi’s fault.

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