Housewares Business-to-business magazine for housewares retailers and their suppliers
The latest Waitrose & Partners advert aired on Sunday (November 18) and – for the first time in its history – the supermarket retailer has worked with its sister company department store group John Lewis & Partners to produce this particular Christmas advert.
In the tongue-in-cheek festive offering, which launched in the ad break of ITV’s ‘I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here’, viewers saw a young girl encouraging her family to gather round to watch the John Lewis & Partners Christmas advert.
As the music of the ad (entitled The Boy & The Piano, which features singer, pianist, and composer Sir Elton John CBE) starts to play, and the advert appears on screen, the camera pans to the girl’s parents who share a knowing look, take charge of the remote control, and fast forward the advert.
Perplexed as to why her parents are hurrying through the viewing, the advert comes to a close and the reason becomes apparent: a Waitrose 1 dark chocolate and orange stollen wreath that is dubbed ‘Too Good To Wait’ for.
As the family devour the stollen, the girl’s father comments that he preferred “the one with the penguin” (a reference to John Lewis’ 2014 Christmas advert featuring Monty the Penguin), at which the daughter rolls her eyes.
This Waitrose & Partners advert, entitled ‘Fast Forward’, ties in with the theme of the retailer’s ‘Too Good To Wait’ campaign, which is based on the concept that ‘Christmas is about enjoying great quality food with the people who matter most. But when it’s Waitrose & Partners food, you really will do whatever it takes to get to it as quickly as possible, even if that means skipping the most favoured of festive activities’.
The grocer has produced a series of six 30-second TV ads, rather than just one this year. Each celebrates the role that food plays in each home at Christmas, and features a familiar seasonal scenario in which, families and friends rush to get to enjoy their festive fare.
Martin George, customer director at Waitrose & Partners, said: “We’re thrilled to work with our colleagues at John Lewis & Partners to create a unique advert that highlights our special partnership. Fast forwarding their fantastic ad may seem a bit extreme but it just shows that nothing stands in the way of enjoying our delicious stollen.”
Craig Inglis, customer director at John Lewis & Partners, added: “Frankly, it’s hard to believe our colleagues at Waitrose & Partners would choose a stollen over us but, as a big fan of the chocolate orange combo, I suppose if anything can trump an ad starring Elton John, it’s their amazing stollen – some food IS just too good to wait for.”
*Total sales excluding fuel at Waitrose & Partners last week (to Saturday November 24) were down 1.5% compared with the same week last year. Personnel director Jo Walmsley said: “As the cold weather continued, shoppers opted for warming winter food, with sales of slow cooked meat up by 53% and sales of root vegetables, cabbage and sprouts also rising. Customers were beginning to feel festive, with mince pie sales up 43%. Mulled wine was a popular choice too, up by 17%.”
