Note 72: The best British holiday ads, 2024 edition

A few years back, I added an annual review of holiday ads from across the pond to my annual Christmas checklist.

It began with Sainsbury's 2014 ad commemorating the Christmas Truce of 1914 in the trenches of the Great War. It exhibited a degree of storytelling that we don't find in our American ads, which are designed for viewers with a near-nil attention span.

Since then, I've made it a point to see what ads drop each holiday season.

I compiled the 2024 edition of this list a few weeks back, but held back until I could see what our friends at The Tank Museum would be releasing this year. (More on that below.)

So, without further ado, here are my favorites from this year...

Honorable Mention: Aldi

Kevin the Carrot has been a constant fixture in these lists (the Top Gun: Maverick one is my favorite), and he earns an honorable mention this year, as he emulates another Tom Cruise character and rescues the Christmas Spirit:

Honorable Mention: John Lewis

This was a fun one about the challenges of shopping for adult siblings.

Honorable Mention: Waitrose

We need more whodunnits hawking desserts. In two parts:

#10: Asda

I love a good A*Team homage.

#9: Etsy

It's not easy being Waldo.

#8: The Perfume Shop

It's not easy being Santa, either.

#7: Amazon

For a giant soulless corporation, Amazon knows how to pull the heartstrings around the holidays.

#6: JD Sports

I don't know if I've ever seen an anything that captures the variety and merry chaos of the holiday season as much as this ad.

#5: Disney

Having Disney compete in these rankings is like letting Jordan play against Pee-Wee basketball kids. Still, they turn in a fun and memorable story yet again.

#4: Lidl

A solid advertisement for Lidl's toy drive.

#3: Shelter

A powerful entry from Shelter, a group working to help homeless children.

#2: Tesco

A fairly upbeat ad about grief. I don't quite grok how, but it I can't watch it without tearing up a little bit.

And this year's winner doesn't come from the UK, but from Scandinavia, courtesy of Posten, the Norwegian Postal Service.

#1: The Reinfall

This one has joined my list of all-time Christmas classics. I'll be looking forward to sharing this for years to come.

Now, The Tank Museum usually shows up on my lists for the sheer randomness and joy that they have around tanks and Christmas. I've been holding out for their ad for weeks, and discovered today that they outdid themselves with a three-hour long live stream last Saturday.

I think "TANKMAS" has just dethroned "Happy Honda Days" when it comes vehicular holiday events. Looking forward to making space in my life for watching all of this in its entirety (including a cameo from Jason Statham at 25:50 in the stream).

Thanks for sticking around for this peculiar obsession of mine. I didn't know what we would be getting this year, but 2024 did not disappoint!