Aldi’s Kevin the Carrot returns in a spoof of the Coca-Cola Christmas Truck ad
Kevin the Carrot, the cartoon vegetable whose alcohol consumption infamously ruffled the ASA, has returned to front Aldi’s Christmas campaign for a third year with a parody of Coca-Cola’s enduring Truck spot.
Kevin the Carrot returns for Aldi
The supermarket has teased the release of its 2018 creative with a high-budget 40-second spot that ends in a literal cliff hanger.
The scene opens on a winter’s night as a red truck lit up in fairy lights winds through a snowy road. Music reminiscent of Coke’s ‘Holidays are Coming’ earworm plays as the camera pans onto Kevin at the wheel of the lorry.
All is merry and bright until an avalanche hits the bedazzled vehicle and knocks Kevin and his haul of carrots off the road. The scene closes as the truck dangles precariously over a cliff edge, while the hashtag #SaveKevin appears on screen.
Aldi confirmed that more work is to come, signifying it will again give its 2018 Christmas campaign a sequential release.
McCann UK, which originally created Kevin two years ago, is behind the latest spot. It will debut on ITV at 5.45pm on Friday (2 November).
The lovable tangerine mascot landed himself in hot water with the ASA earlier this year. Three months after Aldi’s 2017 Christmas ads aired, the authority banned the work from being shown again after one viewer complained it was likely to promote alcohol to children.
Many questioned the board’s anachronistic decision, including Creature’s Dan Cullen-Shute. The chief executive fervently argued that a “pissed-up carrot isn't the ASA's biggest problem”.
Aldi isn't the first brand to parody Coca-Cola's age-old Christmas campaign: Greenpeace did so last year to protest the drinks company's use of single-use plastics.
