Marc Lewis' Christmas ad rankings: Cadbury's 'Secret Santa' oozes persuasion and charm
The festive season is almost upon us – which means it’s time for advertisers to up their budgets and start producing shiny snow-covered campaigns again. This Christmas Marc Lewis, the highly-revered creative mind who leads the School of Communications Arts London, will review (in his opinion) the merits of some of the biggest brands' seasonal spots with a creative eye, separating the Christmas crackers from the turkeys.
This is a commercial using the powers of persuasion with charm and intelligence
We teach our students that their portfolios will pop and shine when they can demonstrate an ability to make products in commoditised categories – such as chocolate or cheese – stand out from the crowd.
VCCP achieves this brilliantly for Cadbury chocolate, introducing just the right level of cheese.
Cadbury's Christmas commercial gets us thinking about 'Secret Santa' (I WANT THAT MASK) and the ritual of gifting in schools (TAKE NOTE, STUDENTS OF SCA) and offices around the country.
It does a brilliant job of bringing the range of Cadbury products into the film, without it ever looking clumysy or clunky.
This is a commercial using the powers of persuasion with charm and intelligence.
Am I going to show Secret Santa as a case study in film making?
No.
Will it win at Cannes?
No.
Will it shift product?
Enough to rot the teeth of a million children.
Score out of 5?
3.5
Keep up with The Drum's 2018 Christmas coverage here.