Christmas adverts are hijacking the Love Actually feel-good spirit to get us spending more |
The Christmas advert season has officially started, and Richard Curtis’s genius is all around – again.
From the carrot expressing love on a placard in the Aldi advert, to the moment when Keira Knightley finally says yes to Joe Wilkinson (and to his food) in the Waitrose commercial, the Love Actually film seems to be everywhere in Christmas adverts. The spending spirit is being neatly squeezed into our minds, just like the extra syllable in the original lyrics of the Love Is All Around anthem.
These adverts are trying to tap into our growing loneliness and desire for togetherness and to persuade us that the best way to get it is to spend money on gifts. In the Pandora advert, for example, the boy character plans a Christmas gift for his mother to the sound of the Beach Boys hit song God Only Knows, which could be intended to remind us of the ending of Love Actually in the arrivals hall at Heathrow airport.
It’s no surprise that advertisers use works of fiction to reconnect us with past memories of joy and happiness. Take Roald Dahl’s BFG, for example, in Sainsbury’s Christmas 2025 TV ad. During Christmas, when we listen to familiar tunes or watch films together, we often experience a sense of togetherness, recognising that we share more than we disagree on.
Love Actually is an example of a cultural phenomenon that many people in the UK share nostalgic feelings towards, which evokes a feeling of belonging in us. We often respond in the same way to the movements and dialogue of Knightley, Hugh Grant and Emma Thompson, and we seem to feel united in our responses.
Once we form a connection between Love Actually or BFG and pleasant feelings associated with watching or reading........