Each year brands, whether they are phone companies or your local supermarket, all aim to outdo one another with their Christmas advert.
It has meant that each year we wait on tenterhooks for John Lewis to bring out their Christmas ad (a brand not even available in Ireland) or for the first sight of the famous Coca-Cola truck. These advertisements have resulted in a yearly collection of engaging and often heart wrenching stories that give you that Christmas feeling.
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Here at All Good Tales, we love a good Christmas story. We’ve put together our top three Christmas brand stories from this year.
McDonalds
Are you Reindeer Ready?
McDonald’s is not the brand we typically associate with Christmas ads. However, in recent years McDonald’s have upped their Christmas game and introduced stories surrounding their Christmas carrots.
Santa and his reindeer are doing the rounds on Christmas Eve delivering presents. While Santa indulges in his mince pies and glasses of milk his reindeer are continuing their journey on an empty stomach. Feeling guilty Santa makes a quick pit-stop to the nearest McDonalds to get some carrots the end result is a sack full of carrots and some very happy reindeer.
The story is simple, the characters are well-known and the animation is cleverly done. It’s an ad that doesn’t overly depend on the product or company but instead allows it to come in as the hero at the end of the story. They used a storytelling technique to quietly promote their brand. These means children across the country will be calling on parents to go to McDonald’s Christmas Eve to make sure they have carrots for Rudolph and his friends.
The ad has been dubbed by some as their favourite of the 2018 season. It’s heartwarming and embodies the Christmas period.
Iceland
Perhaps the most controversial Christmas ad in recent years, the Iceland ad brings us on a non-traditional Christmas journey. They tell us a different type of Christmas story.
One morning a little girl is awoken by an unfamiliar visitor. A baby orangutan. Bouncing around the room he tells her the story of the palm oil industry and how it’s destroying his home. The little girl decides she is going to help.
The ad is narrated through rhymes, adding a unique storytelling technique. The story of the two unlikely friends is emotive and draws you in. Exactly what a good story should do. The ad finishes strong as real-life photos and facts are displayed on the screen.
The storytelling techniques used have created a strong and powerful ad. One which remains banned.
It has been viewed on their YouTube channel nearly 6 million times and has been in the news cycle more than once. Although getting on official television airtime the story from the supermarket chain has packed a punch.
Here at All Good Tales, we believe this is what storytelling is made for. To get people talking and start debates. Iceland has achieved just that.
Guinness
An old favourite. For many of us, it simply wouldn’t be Christmas without seeing the infamous Guinness ad on the television.
We all know the story, the fox, the snow, the bells and the one famous line “don’t forget to turn the lights off”.
The story is simple. A collection of Christmas stories from around the country. From walking the dog to heading home after a few drinks at the neighbours, each one of us can find familiarity in at least one of the stories.
The ad is also quintessentially Irish. By adopting Irishness into its storytelling, it brings a sense of home and comfort that they would have been missing without these prompts.
The ad tells an Irish story, in an Irish way. It’s an iconic Christmas story, one that marks the beginning of the Christmas season each year.
So that’s it. The roundup of stories that have caught our attention this Christmas.
From all of us here at All Good Tales, Merry Christmas!
