Back in England the launch of the Christmas adverts seem to signal the start of the Christmas period; from then it’s viewed as acceptable to start Christmas shopping, watching Christmas films and just generally getting excited about the festive season.
There always seems to be a competition between the department stores and supermarkets as to who can release the best Christmas advert, and so far it seems to be between the story of a loveable penguin from John Lewis (a big department store), and the retelling of the truce in the First World War from Sainsbury’s (a big supermarket), which has divided opinions amongst people.
Social media plays a big part in the battle to have the best Christmas advert, as people can share their opinions and reactions to the videos. The day a new advert is released, my Twitter and Facebook is flooded with people’s reactions and comments to the advert, so despite these adverts being aimed for the television, they belong just as much on social media, which is shown as John Lewis released their advert online.
I don’t think the launch of Christmas adverts are seen as such a big event in France as they are back in the UK. Yes, of course they celebrate Christmas here and there are, obviously, displays in shops and Christmas markets, but there seem to be no signs of Christmas adverts, well I’m sure they exist but they don’t seem to have the same impact here, as they do in the UK.
Through the power of social media, Christmas adverts in the UK are even starting to spread to other countries, as some of my French friends seemed to know about the John Lewis Christmas adverts, which is undoubtedly the one people anticipate each year.
The main reason as to why I look forward to the Christmas adverts each year is because it signals the launch of the festive period for me and is something that reminds me of home, and I think it’s always nice to have something to remind you of home when you’re living in a foreign country in the run up to Christmas.
Note from editor: The two adverts that Chloe mentions in her post are easily found on YouTube. Click here for the Sainsbury's advert and click here to watch the John Lewis advert. Don't forget to come back to LearnEnglish Teens when you've watched them! ;)
Are there special adverts for Christmas or for other big festivals in your country? Did you watch the adverts that Chloe mentions? Which one did you like best?
