Image Credit: Waitrose

When I think about Christmas adverts, my brain always defaults to John Lewis, more specifically the one from 2013 with Lily Allen’s ‘Somewhere Only We Know.’ However, year after year, it is the supermarkets that consistently dominate the advertising scene, capturing the British public’s attention as they tune in to watch I’m a Celebrity or one of their favourite soaps. 

A recent study published by The Grocer reveals that 71% of adults “say it’s important that the supermarkets they shop with make a Christmas ad that makes them feel good about the brand.” Maybe this makes me a bit sad and boring, but watching the adverts roll out at the end of November gets me very prematurely excited for Christmas, even though I’m not the one cooking Christmas dinner. 

Overall, I wasn’t particularly impressed with the selection on our screens this year. However, I’m not the type to boycott a store over a poor Christmas advert as, ultimately, this doesn’t impact my bank account balance.

8th Place: LIDL

Lidl Presents: More to Value this Christmas | TV Advert 2025 | Lidl GB

LIDL’s ‘More to Value this Christmas’ had the highest view count I found at 3.7 million, which surprised me since I’ve barely seen any discussion about it online. The fact that it has zero comments does feel a bit odd, so I’m not entirely sure what LIDL are up to. 

The advert centres on a young girl and her family at Christmas, built around the message that we love Christmas because we love the people around us. However, the concept feels overused and lacks originality. The storytelling doesn’t flow particularly well either, with most of the ad being the girl staring out of a car window. The song also threw me off because it was ‘Wouldn’t it be Nice’ by the Beach Boys, which is used by SKY’s adverts with Lily James, based around summertime and weather.. 

The video ended with a brief promotion for LIDL’s toy bank and a call for donations. It actually seems like a much stronger message, so why wasn’t that the focus? LIDL completely missed the mark on this one. 

7th Place: Sainsbury’s

The Unexpected Guest | Sainsbury’s | Christmas 2025

I have to admit I did get a bit emotional watching this advert in the cinema before rewatching Wicked: For Good (2025) last month. That said, it wasn’t necessarily the advert itself that brought me to tears, rather my excitement that Christmas was pretty much here. 

Sainsbury’s ‘The Unexpected Guest’ continues their collaboration with Roald Dahl’s “The BFG”following on from last year’s video. We see The BFG team up with staff members in stopping the Greedy Giant from taking everyone’s Christmas food. Eventually, the Giant steals all the food from a Sainsbury’s shop, collapses on the floor, and gets airlifted off the premises. 

I completely get that Christmas is steeped in magic and mythology, but can you imagine the chaos if it were real? The British public would be flocking to news channels for their fifteen minutes of fame.

Another small complaint: the radio. I know it sounds cynical, but I couldn’t stop thinking how anyone would actually be in range to pick it up. And, sorry, but who even puts their gammon on a windowsill with the window open in the snow? It deserved to get nicked.

At least they showed some Christmas food, but it was pretty standard; turkey, pigs in blankets, gammon. If I were picking where to shop from the ad alone, I wouldn’t be that impressed with the variety. 

6th Place: ASDA

Asda Christmas Advert 2025 – A Very Merry Grinchmas

This may upset some people, but I didn’t really like their advert this year. ‘A Very Merry Grinchmas’ focuses on a family shopping for their party, with the dad (who looks like the Grinch) complaining about how expensive everything is at Christmas. Not to be too critical but I feel like this came off slightly tone-deaf because ASDA doesn’t make anything less expensive, but that could be a whole conversation for another day. 

The Grinch then sings his own song about buying things at Christmas to the theme of ‘Let It Snow’ while his children run around the store. It was an immediate no from me when his kid then did a cartwheel. I could feel myself turning into the Grinch while watching it. 

The dad reverts to his usual self at the Christmas party, and apart from a brief grinchy moment at the start, there wasn’t actually much need for the character to be used. I guess it is quite whimsical and fun for kids, although most children I see on TikTok are terrified of the green creature. As a lover of the film How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000), I personally hate the ‘grinchification’ of Christmas, although I can imagine that the real Grinch would have loved his face plastered on everything. 

5th Place: ALDI

Aldi Christmas Advert 2025 Part 3 | It’s a 24 carat Christmas for Kevin & Katie

Back for his 10th anniversary, Kevin the Carrot returns to our screens once again in ‘It’s a 24 carat Christmas for Kevin & Katie.’. I remember as a kid (embarrassingly, I was probably a teenager) my Mum bought us a Kevin shopping bag, which was shaped like a carrot, and I truly thought it was the best thing.

The advert was split into three parts, one featuring a recreation of the doorstep scene from Love Actually (2003). But in the final part, Aldi took a leaf out of Corrie, Emmerdale and Eastenders’ books. We have a wedding on Christmas. And just like the soaps, something has gone wrong. The registrar gets themselves in a bit of a pickle, and they are literally a pickle. Kevin’s bride, Katie, thinks the day is doomed and then for some reason Kevin starts singing his own rendition of ‘Love Is All Around’. They tie the knot and we see a lovely pan of food.

But what really stole the show was Kevin’s new friend Cauli Dog, a dog shaped like a cauliflower. I did a bit of digging and found out they are actually selling a toy shaped like Cauli, so if anyone is thinking about what to get me for Christmas, I have an answer.

I liked how they showed off some of their food, especially the jars, but overall the advert didn’t blow me away. The cartoon just doesn’t seem to have the same magic it used to have either.

4th Place: Morrisons

A Year In The Making | Morrisons | Christmas Ad 2025 90”

‘A Year In The Making’ highlights the people working behind the scenes to keep supermarkets stocked throughout the year. It’s certainly a different concept compared to other Christmas adverts this season, but for me it didn’t quite reach the level of impact it could have.

There seemed to be an unexpected Halloween presence, which made the advert feel a bit disjointed at times. However, the use of ‘Stop the Cavalry’ by Jona Lewie did help tie everything together and provided a nostalgic feel. 

I can see what they were aiming for with this advert, but overall it landed in the middle ground for me. 

3rd Place: M&S

Traffic Jamming | M&S Food Christmas Advert 2025

Back for her fourth consecutive year with M&S is none other than Dawn French. We’re all familiar with the frustration of being stuck in motorway traffic, that agonising boredom as the minutes crawl by with no movement in sight. That’s exactly the feeling M&S aims to capture, while showing that everything feels a little more bearable with the help of some M&S canapés.

Stuck in standstill traffic, we see Dawn French singing along to ‘Driving Home for Christmas’, arguably the only acceptable soundtrack for the holiday journey home. But beneath the festive jingles, the frustration kicks in, and she suddenly lets out a full-on scream in the car (something I’m guilty of myself when the windscreen takes too long to de-mist). Luckily, and rather conveniently, the little fairy riding with her decides it’s time to intervene. With a sprinkle of magic, she transforms an M&S lorry a few cars ahead into the ultimate Christmas party on wheels.

My least favourite part of the advert was just how angry Dawn French was, it felt a bit excessive. Why was she that annoyed? And honestly, there was no need for her dramatic dive over a car when the M&S truck was barely five steps away. 

Although the advert has picked up quite a bit of negative feedback online, particularly in the YouTube comments, I think people are overreacting. To me, it felt festive, fun and genuinely engaging. But maybe it is time for a new direction next year. 

2nd Place: Tesco

Tesco Christmas Advert 2025 | That’s What Makes It Christmas 🎄

Families aren’t perfect – no one’s is. It’s a myth. Tesco has chosen to remind us of that this year. 

‘That’s What Makes It Christmas’ isn’t a magical advert, but it’s far from dull. In fact, I actually found myself tearing up. 

We all recognise that slightly chaotic dinner table scene: the clashing personalities, the mismatched traditions, and in this case, even the three mismatched dogs thundering down the stairs in matching Christmas jumpers.

The advert brings together a variety of families, each showing that Christmas isn’t always picture-perfect or sparkling; it’s just your family, in all its messy, heartwarming reality. 

It’s not the most magical or captivating offering of the year, but it will hit home for anyone who gets emotional about spending time with loved ones. That’s why, in my personal opinion, it takes second spot, because it’s what I think Christmas is all about: family. 

1st Place: Waitrose

The Perfect Gift | Waitrose | Christmas Ad 2025

The moment I saw this advert, I knew it would claim top spot. 

We meet Phil, played by Joe Wilkinson, in a pub with his two friends. They’re having a bit of a sad conversation in the pub: the only person Shelly (I’m assuming Phil is a widow) would want him to move on with is… Keira Knightley. Completely unimaginable to them apparently. 

This is where the power of Christmas truly does shine, even if it is just in an advert. While shopping in the cheese sections in Waitrose, both Phil and Keira order the same cheese. The most perfect meet cute. I can imagine the public have been flocking to the cheese aisles across the country ever since. 

Phil musters the courage to ask Keira out, and the two of them tumble into a whirlwind of festive dates. But the dream shatters when Phil spots a gift at Keira’s place, one addressed from someone named Mark. Later, his mum reminds him that “cooking for someone is love,” prompting Phil, in peak yearning mode, to show up at Keira’s door holding his nan’s turkey pie, complete with ‘I Love You’ spelled out in pastry on top. 

It is the most perfect moment, until Mark shows up.

But in a true Christmas movie, perfect ending style, it turns out that Mark isn’t her lover at all; he’s her brother.

‘And they ate happily ever after’. 

The advert feels like a real mini-movie and properly gets you into the festive spirit. Joe Wilkinson is absolutely brilliant in it, and casting him was a fantastic move from Waitrose, especially off the back of his recent role in The Traitors. 

So while the supermarkets didn’t exactly blow me away this year, Waitrose have definitely managed to save the day. But it does make you wonder, are we expecting too much from these big-budget Christmas adverts? Wouldn’t we rather see that money put towards lowering prices for shoppers instead, the way Iceland have reportedly done this year?

After all, I know I’d much prefer to see a Terry’s Chocolate Orange back at £1.