ASDA’S pun-filled Christmas advert has arrived and it features a classic 1980s TV theme song.
The supermarket giant’s 90-second clip showcases a team of garden gnomes rushing to save Christmas.
Bill knows exactly what to do to save the day[/caption]
The ceramic characters arrive at Maggie and Bill’s store and immediately get to work transforming it[/caption]
Five hero gnomes will join Asda’s already famous ‘Mrs Claus’ gnome on shelves[/caption]
Premiering today across social channels and on November 6 at 8.15pm on ITV‘s Coronation Street ad break, the ad took seven months to create and is built from 3,000 hours of animated footage.
The gnomes’ adventure is set to the iconic theme of The A-Team – the beloved 80s TV show.
It opens with two Asda colleagues, Maggie and Bill, staring out of a store into a huge snowstorm.
Maggie says: “Every road is closed between here and Sheffield, how are we going to get the store ready for Christmas?”
Bill then knowingly picks up a gnome and presses its nose – it lights up green.
This seemingly sends a signal to hundreds of gnomes across gardens, pub shelves and tower blocks nationwide, who answer the call for help.
When the team of ceramic characters arrives at Maggie and Bill’s store, they immediately get to work transforming the store into a Christmas wonderland.
The gnomes in the kitchen get to work showcasing a variety of Asda’s festive offers.
This year that includes over 540 products, including award-winning “Exceptional” mince pies at £2.50, a stunning George ombre sequin dress at £32, perfect for the party penguin bao buns at £3.50 and of course, a gingerbread gnome.
In the store, the characters stack shelves, wrestle a Christmas tree and set up sparkly mannequins.
With the sun coming up, chief Gnome, Max, announces “it’s time to go gnome” and the miniature heroes set off in Asda delivery vans.
The film ends with Chris Rea’s famous Christmas classic, with the lyrics adapted to “Driving Gnome for Christmas” and the tagline “The Gnome of Christmas” appearing on screen.
While Max and co. were conceived for the ad campaign, fans of the gnomes will be delighted to hear that the pint-sized heroes will be showing up in real life too.
From Thursday, November 7, the five hero gnomes will join Asda’s already famous “Mrs Claus” gnome on shelves up and down the country for customers to buy.
David Hills, chief customer officer at Asda, said: “Asda’s gnomes are long-standing favourites with our customers and they were staring us in the face as the obvious characters for our Christmas campaign – a very Asda way for us to showcase our breadth of offer.
“Our priority is to make sure our customers can have their best Christmas possible with great quality food, general merchandise and amazing George clothing & home items all under one roof. Our customers can trust that they will get the best quality they expect from the festive season all at Asda’s incredibly low prices.
“From decorating their home and dressing for the party season to consuming award-winning Exceptional mince pies and truly show-stopping centrepiece meats and desserts – all with Asda’s uncompromising value promise.”
Asda at Christmas
ASDA, like other retailers, has been quick to get in the festive spirit.
The Sun was invited to try all the goodies the supermarket plans to stock over the festive period.
Among them are seven different types of mince pies including its Brown Butter & Rum Mince Pies which are making a return from last year.
But its brand new Toffee Apple Spiced Mince Pie was a stand out for us.
The snack has the traditional cinnamon taste you expect from a mince pie but is filled with a gooey toffee apple centre.
It will form part of Asda’s ‘Expectational’ range, which will be slightly more pricey than other goods the retailer stocks.
Asda said its focus this Christmas was offering customers “amazing taste at excellent value”.
When it comes to its wine and cheese selection the store definitely lived up to the promise.
Asda will roll out over 500 products over Christmas, but of course, the main event is turkey.
Its premium heritage slate turkey is free-range and was reared in Norfolk, it will cost £25 per kilo when it eventually lands in store.
Find out more about the full range and what we thought here.
Asda Christmas ads through the years
Last year, Asda’s Christmas advert saw Michael Bublé take on the role of chief quality officer.
Tasked with ensuring the retailer delivers the very best quality for the nation this Christmas, Bublé was seen measuring rows of individual chocolate and orange panettones and indulging in some delectable brown butter and spiced dark rum mince pies.
Shot by Oscar-winning filmmaker Taika Waititi, the ad opened with Bublé sitting, full of cheer, feet up on his new desk, and his gold-plated Chief Quality Officer desk sign in full sight for all to see.
Asda’s Christmas advert in 2022 saw the return of Will Ferrell’s character Buddy the Elf from the movies under the same name.
At the time, the supermarket partnered with Warner Bros to bring Buddy the Elf back to our screens – 19 years after the film Elf was released.
Will Ferell didn’t have to film a single scene – but he did ensure that he had a say over the final product.
The advert for 2021, featured a family gliding through the festive season on their ice skates.
The Asda On Ice clip saw an ordinary family enter an Asda store before being transported through a series of traditional Christmas events sure to make viewers nostalgic.
The first sign that all is not as it seems is when Asda employees begin synchronised skating with trolleys through the store.
Then the shoppers’ shoes are magically replaced by golden ice skates and they’re led on a Christmas adventure.
They go to a school play, featuring a Christmas pudding costume.
The advert, which is set to the soundtrack of the ice skating classic Bolero, also features an office Christmas party scene with dancing photocopiers.
Back in 2020, the ad was all about how Christmas would be different due to coronavirus.
Featuring a real-life family, the advert follows them getting ready for the festive season by decorating their house and stocking up for Christmas Day.
It began with family man Sunny putting up Christmas lights on the house roof, although his neighbour Christine isn’t a fan.
The advert then showed his children peeking out the window as Asda delivery drivers bring up Christmas food to the house wearing face masks.
Asda’s pun-filled Christmas advert has arrived[/caption]
It features a classic 1980s TV theme song[/caption]
The supermarket giant’s 90-second clip showcases a team of garden gnomes rushing to save Christmas[/caption]
How to save money on Christmas shopping
Consumer reporter Sam Walker reveals how you can save money on your Christmas shopping.
Limit the amount of presents – buying presents for all your family and friends can cost a bomb.
Instead, why not organise a Secret Santa between your inner circles so you’re not having to buy multiple presents.
Plan ahead – if you’ve got the stamina and budget, it’s worth buying your Christmas presents for the following year in the January sales.
Make sure you shop around for the best deals by using price comparison sites so you’re not forking out more than you should though.
Buy in Boxing Day sales – some retailers start their main Christmas sales early so you can actually snap up a bargain before December 25.
Delivery may cost you a bit more, but it can be worth it if the savings are decent.
Shop via outlet stores – you can save loads of money shopping via outlet stores like Amazon Warehouse or Office Offcuts.
They work by selling returned or slightly damaged products at a discounted rate, but usually any wear and tear is minor.
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