Tesco targets the spirit of Christmas

Tesco's new Christmas campaign follows a man called Gary whose visit to his grandfather begins a chain of events which sees his Christmas spirit ebb and flow depending on his mood.

Called Helping Feed Your Christmas Spirit and created by BBH London the three-minute film explores the things that feed, our Christmas spirit, as well as the things that might see it start to waver, ultimately offering a message of togetherness, nostalgia and festive joy.

The spot was directed by Alaska through Iconoclast and was born from insight that Christmas spirit is something that needs nurturing, and that moments related to home, food and reconnecting with loved ones are the key to topping it up. We follow Gary as, initially, his Christmas spirit is low after a visit to his grandfather sees him reflect on the loss of his grandmother.

But Gary's Christmas spiritexplodes into the world around him after his grandfather hands him a pack of Tesco Gingerbread Men. As Gary’s spirit lifts, his environment is transformed into a magical gingerbread landscape, from a gingerbread scooter with a top box bursting with gingerbread, candy canes and other sweet treats, a gingerbread Tesco till, complete with gingerbread receipt, and a market square transformed into a gingerbread wonderland sprinkled with delicate gingerbread snowflakes and puffs of icing sugar.

Crucially for the narrative of the campaign, the insight highlighted that festive traditions enjoyed with family and loved ones can literally and figuratively feed our Christmas spirit through the familiarity of home and the comfort of Christmas food whether that’s the main event, snacking on leftovers or sharing a celebratory drink with loved ones. As a nation, we love repeating previously treasured shared experiences, even if those traditions evolve over time.

Viewers follow Gary as his Christmas spirit then explodes into the world after his grandfather hands him a pack of Tesco Gingerbread Men. As Gary’s spirit lifts, his environment is transformed into a magical gingerbread landscape, from a gingerbread scooter with a top box bursting with gingerbread, candy canes and other sweet treats, a gingerbread Tesco till, complete with gingerbread receipt, and a market square transformed into a gingerbread wonderland sprinkled with delicate gingerbread snowflakes and puffs of icing sugar.

But then we also see this magical world start to crumble as Gary’s Christmas spirit dips when he again thinks about the absence of his grandmother at this special time. At the heart of the campaign is Gary’s journey to rekindle a cherished tradition of building a gingerbread house; something he used to do with his grandmother. 

“After the success of the 2023 campaign, we wanted to create something that built on last year but still felt fresh," said Felipe Serradourada Guimaraes, Deputy Executive Creative Director at BBH London. "As the BBH mantra goes, we wanted to move it on without moving it off. Another proud moment in the BBH and Tesco partnership.”