Xmas Doesn't Compare with the Superbowl, says VCCP

Now that we’re coming to the end of the year, how would you describe 2016 for the industry, creatively speaking? 

Ersatz.

Looking at the recent barrage of Christmas campaigns, why do you think Christmas ads have become such a big part of popular culture in recent years? 

All advertising should always reflect and add to culture but I’m not sold on this Britain’s Superbowl argument. We should aim to percolate popular culture all year round and not just at Christmas.

A lot of people have argued that Christmas ads have become predictable; would you agree and do you think there’s a winning formula to festive commercials? 

That’s because this consensus is the reality. They all feel very samey, safe, mawkish & sentimental... Where has the glamour & the humour gone?

What are you most excited about for 2017, work or otherwise? 

2016 was terrible for so many obvious reasons not least a mass outbreak of reactionary populism but 2017 will be ace. We will finally see the emergence of a creative resistance to the prevailing mass-market consumerist ideology. Intelligence and creativity will bounce back. 

Creativity can drive real value for brands and the companies with real vision and an inclusive worldviews will prosper.

What are your predictions for the industry in general next year? 

A febrile creative environment with much to push against.

Which campaign or piece of work will you remember from this year? 

Jeremy Deller’s elegiac and beautiful tribute for the Battle of the Somme on July 01 We Are Here (below).

As creatives we can learn so much from Deller about creating unexpected, mass participations pieces of populist work that tap dance across the Internet that are charming and moving. Viva Jeremy Deller!

And with regards to Christmas spots, give us a top three of this year’s bunch and a sentence about why you like them. 

I don’t really dig any of them for the reasons given earlier. The only one that was somewhat brave and different was the one with The Iman & The Priest.

If you had a piece of advice for the creative industry to take from 2016 into next year, what would that be? 

Stop talking to yourselves.

Chill out.

Be diverse.

Be funny.

And tolerate and welcome in different voices that might help make this a fun and vibrant industry again that kids would like to be a part of.

And finally, what’s your new year’s resolution for 2017?

Stay curious, stay interested, stay interesting, stay hungry and make our deeds and actions inspire the next generation.