The Fisher family Christmas review of 2024

I just checked and it appears we first did one of these ‘en-famille’ reviews of Christmas ads back in 2018. 

Back then it was just me and my youngest, who was just 18-months-old at the time, and gatecrashed my date night with that year's batch of festive specials. In those days she was barely talking, and her input came entirely in the form of burps, gurgles and nappy movements.

Chez Fisher has evolved from being a Charlie and Lola-loving household to a Charli XCX-following one.

In the reviews since, my eldest joined the fray and it’s become a sort of quirky Dad and daughters tradition, even if life got in the way and forced us to miss a couple of years. But, boy, has a lot changed in six years. I seem to still have the same hairstyle I had back then but just about everything else is unrecognisable in Chez Fisher, which has evolved from being a Charlie and Lola-loving household to a Charli XCX-following one in the blink of an eye. 

Above: Daniel Fisher and his two 'Know It Alls' are the Christmas campaign reviewers you never knew you needed!

The biggest change of all, though, seems to be in the realm of opinion and knowledge. The age of ‘Daddy knows best’ has fallen, and my wife and I now live under the terrifying reign of the ‘Know it all tweenager (and its wannabe sidekick)’, so it shouldn’t really have been a surprise that this year’s viewing turned into a meaty three-way debate about the creative merits of each effort. 

It took a lot longer to get through each one than in previous years, so I filtered the selection and we’ve only reviewed a smaller crop this year. If yours didn’t make the cut and, for some obscure reason, you were really desperate to have your efforts critiqued by the strangest panel in the global advertising industry, reach out to us via shots and we’ll happily oblige. To everyone else, I hope you enjoy reading it as much as we did doing it. 

It must have been a brave decision to move away from such a well-loved formula.

Ok, straight to it, the national treasure that is John Lewis, and a brand I know only too well [Fisher Snr worked on Monty the Penguin while at adam&eveDDB]. I know this one’s had a bit of flak (“It feels like an amazing Debenhams ad.” / “It was a great Boots ad.” etc) but watching it with two young sisters who are growing up together only too fast, my soppy side couldn’t help but relate to its premise. 

Ok, it may may be missing the Disney-esque edge that’s come to be the trademark of this brands work over the past few years, but it must have been a brave decision to move away from such a well-loved formula, so fair play to the teams behind this for having the bravery to take it. My Know It All judges, who still have fluffy Monty’s and Moz’s lurking in their vast soft toy entourages, seem to not mind it, being swayed by the track (which they may have heard on long car journeys to the North East) and both hand it a 7 out of 10. 

Above: John Lewis has made a brave decision to move away from a well-loved formula. 

Onto McDonald’s. Another brand I have a Christmas past with. I have to say this one feels odd to me. In recent years, this brand has been behind some of the best festive storytelling but, despite the admirable craft, this one seems to fall a little short. Little Know It All agrees, handing it a 6, and arguing it feels a bit "hyper" which isn’t really a festive vibe for her (fair comment). 

They got the car casting all wrong because it was crying out to be a Maserati, apparently.

But Big Know It All is having none of it, bouncing up and down to the track, digging the visual effects and telling me "I don’t get it" (maybe also fair). She hands it a 9, declaring it would have so been a 10 but they got the car casting all wrong because it was crying out to be a Maserati, apparently. (Jesus, help me!)

Above: McDonald's campaign caused some divided opinions in the Fisher household. 

Onto M&S. A review of Christmas ads wouldn’t be complete without an effort from this brand, and this year there’re two to get through. First up is the food spot, with Dawn French and her fairy-me. I love this, not just because they cast one of our best loved national treasures, but because it’s really well done, has just the right amount of fun and sparkle and showcases the food beautifully without trying to ram it down your throat. 

Surely the most client comment of all time.

The Know It Alls each agree, both of them handing it a 9, the little one declaring it a "hilarious Christmas miracle", the bigger one deciding it's "slay". I then crack a Dad joke around the word ‘sleigh’, to which she shoots me a look which equates to putting herself up for adoption.

Above: M&S's food spot was a "Christmas miracle"..

The fashion effort doesn’t have quite the same charm, but it still manages to get thumbs up from all of us. Little Know It All hands it a 7 (“I didn’t get it but that’s okay because it was cool”), whilst Big Know It All loves it and gives it an 8, but adds that they should have represented the clothes in slow-motion and put the names of the items on screen on so that people would know what they were if they wanted to buy them. Which is surely the most client comment of all time.

Above: ... but the fashion offering divided opinions once more. 

Moving onto Waitrose, whose effort this year is a two-parter. I often find that when brands expect their consumers to care so much about their advertising that they might actively seek it out, then someone somewhere has jumped a shark, but this one is such a crowd pleaser (hello Matthew Macfayden) it gets away with it.

Both Know It All’s agree, and each hand it an 8. 

Above: Waitrose was a crowd-pleaser.

Onto Sainsbury’s, and it’s another people pleaser, especially in this household of Roald Dahl-lovers, big and small. This was the first Christmas spot I saw this year, and it brought me all the festive feels you’d hope it would. The BFG-loving Know It Alls are all over it too, the elder one only marking it down to an 8 because she wished they’d used the actual Sophie from the movie. 

This was the first Christmas spot I saw this year, and it brought me all the festive feels you’d hope it would.

The younger one handed it the same score and declared that she loved how the BFG helped feed the family in need of food. She’s only seven, so she can be forgiven for misunderstanding the nuance of that scene, but it segues us neatly to the next spot.

Above: In a Roald Dahl-loving household, Sainsbury's spot was always going to be big!

Another former client of mine, I’m full of admiration for the work Shelter do. Their Christmas spot is very well executed, and even if it didn’t tell me anything new, the seasonal context makes it all the more heartbreaking, and it led to a rather deep conversation with my co-critics about the harsh realities far too many people face. 

The powerful storytelling touched me.

It didn’t feel appropriate to get score cards out for this one, but the powerful storytelling touched me and reminded me how lucky we are and to make a donation to help those who aren’t, so that’s a job well done. 

Above: Shelter's spot taught a lesson in "the harsh realities far too many people face".

Tesco next. As someone who lost a parent not long before Christmas, just two years back, this one feels quite personal to both me and (once I’d helped them understand the storyline) the girls, who miss their beloved Grandad dearly. 

This one feels personal to both me and the girls, who miss their beloved Grandad dearly. 

Even if I can’t quite figure out how it takes you back to the brand, I think it’s moving and well done. Double 7's from the little judges.

Above: Tesco's Christmas offering for this year was an emotional one. 

Next it’s onto Disney, a brand with superstar pulling power in this house. Disney must be an intimidating logo to have looming over your blank page, but this delightful and epic spot, about a boy and his friendship with an octopus, manages to more than hold its own. 

It takes my Stitch-adoring youngest about 20 seconds to declare “I love it”.

It takes my Stitch-adoring youngest about 20 seconds to declare “I love it”, and award it a 10, a score that stays the distance to the very end, just like her attention, which is no mean feat. 

Even the eldest, never one to pass up the opportunity to dole out constructive criticism to all and sundry, struggles to find fault and hands it a second 10. 

Above: Disney's The Boy & the Octopus was a top scoring Christmas treat for the two Know It Alls. 

If that’s the winner with my co-judges, then it’s a split jury overall because this Apple spot was the winner for me. I really loved last year’s effort, Fuzzy Feelings, and it was always going to be a tough act to follow, but this spot wrong-footed the room in a way that Apple does best, with a totally different tone and vibe. 

The film talks to me on a very personal level, having worn hearing aids for as long as I can remember.

Telling the moving story of a dad with hearing loss and his relationship with his daughter over the years, the film talks to me on a very personal level, having worn hearing aids for as long as I can remember, and being the father of girls who are growing up faster than I can blink. 

Annoyingly, the technology is not licensed in this market yet, so I can’t comment on the product claim, but that doesn’t take away from the power of the film, which could easily have tripped up on its laces and landed in the familiar ditch of patronising and woke, but instead ended up being a masterclass in restraint, storytelling and craft. A huge well done to those behind it.