Our Favourite Christmas TV Adverts for 2019

It’s the most wonderful time of the year… in the advertising calendar that is! Over the last few weeks, we’ve seen more and more Christmas adverts hit our television screens; some good, some brilliant. At Dynam, we like to think we’re pretty savvy when it comes to advertising, ensuring that our client’s stories are brought to life in a clear and engaging way. However we’re human too, and a few of us have picked out our favourite Christmas adverts for 2019 below.




E.T. Came Home for Christmas (Sky)

As a complete aficionado of anything eighties, Sci-Fi or Christmas, E.T’s starring role in Sky’s Christmas advert is the winner for me. It was a little late to the party, but so worth the wait. E.T. is a timeless classic and seeing him back with (an older) Elliot and his family, enjoying Christmas on Earth was really special. You can tell Sky has taken a lot of care in bringing E.T’s story back to our screens, giving it a modern feel by showcasing its products (and how much technology on Earth has moved on since E.T. was last here), whilst ensuring there are nostalgic nods to the original for the fans. With comedic moments and a good old-fashioned tug on the heartstrings, it really has all the ingredients for the perfect Christmas advert.

- Amy




The Book of Dreams (Argos)

Being a music fanatic and having a young daughter, I was immediately in love with the 2019 Argos Christmas advert - specifically the full version that companies only seem to play for a day or two … the trimmed version does not have the same impact!

You start with a dad looking through ‘the book of dreams’ as Argos have tagged it where he comes across a children’s drum kit with a big crayoned circle around it - he taps the page and it appears in front of him as if from nowhere! He then begins playing Simple Minds - ‘Don’t You Forget About Me’, and with every hit of the drum kit, his kitchen transforms more and more into a music venue. Then the daughter walks down the stairs and seeing her dad, the father-daughter duo continue to finish the advert by playing to 1000s of people and they just seem to be having a lovely, lovely time.

This advert is great for many reasons but for me, it played on a new-ish dad’s heartstrings, reminding this nineties kid of flicking through a physical Argos catalogue for Christmas. The song is a banger and it was just really nice to not see boys playing with blue cars and girls playing with pink dolls, but a father and daughter enjoying an activity together.

- Jordan





Silence the Critics (Ikea)

I really liked IKEA’s UK Christmas advert for 2019, it looked at the behaviour of many homeowners and tied in with the emotional connection and their fear of ‘home shame’ at this time of year. In order to connect with them on all levels, they have taken a deep look at their desired audience age range across the UK, as they used one of the most popular UK music genres right now, Grime; with 43% of the whole UK population listening to it in some shape or form, this is a clever move to make the ad current.

By partnering with D Double E to voice the gimcrack ornaments, who artists such as Skepta have hailed as “the greatest grime MC of all time”, gives it some of the best flow in the music biz and with witty lines throughout. It’s one which sticks in your head, no matter the season. Bu Da Bup Bup.

- Catherine




Go Jumpers for Christmas! (Marks and Spencers)

I’ve gone for Mark and Spencers’ ‘Go Jumpers for Christmas!’ as my favourite advert this year, and no, it’s not just because of the dog appearance (although that helps a lot). It’s really catchy and whilst it shows off the classic Marks and Spencers range (knitwear, knitwear, knitwear), I like how Marks and Spencers have tried to marry their traditional image with the upbeat music to give it a more up-to-date feel, with a more diverse cast in a bid to appear more relevant. Nothing has topped Buster the Boxer from 2016 though…

- Laura





Be a Kid this Christmas (Hafod Hardware)

Every year, we all await the ‘big’ Christmas adverts - John Lewis, Sainsburys etc. But it was a small hardware store in Wales’ Christmas ad that caught my eye this year. Hafod Hardware opened in 1895 and is a family-run business. Their Christmas advert features a little boy named Arthur getting ready for work in the morning, opening up shop and doing a day’s work, all before we see Arthur transform into an adult (Tom, who owns the store) at the end, with the tagline ‘Be a Kid this Christmas’.

I loved this advert because you can tell there’s a real family feel (in real life, Arthur is Tom’s son), and seeing little Arthur go about his day is truly heartwarming. It also bears a great message about shopping local and supporting your community. Shockingly, through the support of friends and family, this advert only cost £100 to make, which just goes to show that you don’t need a multi-million pound budget to create something that will reach and engage people - just a little help from your friends!

- Kirsty



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