Christmas ads 2024: how to watch the best and worst Christmas adverts of 2024 - including John Lewis

• Waitrose has dropped its Christmas advert for 2024 - and its a doozy.
• It follows the like of Sainsburys, Aldi, Lidl and Argos who have already entered the race for the best of the year.
• But how Christmassy are the adverts - and which ones stand out? 

Shaun the Sheep and friends are back in action - this time for Baa-Bour Christmas advert. The luxury brand (Barbour) has recruited Aardman to produce its festive campaign.

The gang of lovable stop-motion creations are getting into all kinds of festive hijinks at a very cold Mossy Bottom Farm.

The big hitters will all be offering up Christmas adverts once again and they have already started to be released. John Lewis has yet to enter the arena - but it is bound to be one of the most talked about. In preparation I have gone back through and watched all the old John Lewis adverts and tried to rank them.

But as more and more adverts are released, you might be struggling to keep up - and may not even know where to see them all. Thankfully we have rounded them up in our article here - we will update this regularly throughout the festive period. 

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We will be rating each of the adverts on a scale of one to five jingle bells - to see which are the most Christmasy. And which might have been the work of the Grinch. 

The ratings are based on how well the adverts embody the Christmas spirit and how festive it makes viewers feel. 

November 7

Barbour - Shaun the Sheep

After successfully patching up The Farmer's jacket last year, Shaun the Sheep, Bitzer and the rest of the flock are back for more festive fun. Carolling at a very cold Mossy Bottom Farm, Bitzer is trying his best to conduct the choir, as their ‘baas’ begins to freeze.

Find out if Bitzer can change the tune with the help of some Baa-bour magic below. And trust me you will want to watch this advert.

I am a big fan of the Shaun the Sheep Christmas special that aired on the BBC a few years ago. I was really run down and full of cold the first time I watched it and it has become a yearly favourite for me.

After all nothing says Christmas quite like slapstick hijinks involving animals - and frozen sheep singing carols with chattering teeth.

Like a slice of Christmas cake and a chunk of cheese, this advert goes down very well. It is funny and memorable.

Christmas rating: 4.25 Jingle Bells.

November 5

Waitrose - Sweet Surprise

While it is often overshadowed by its big brother - John Lewis - Waitrose has come out the gates swinging with its Christmas advert for 2024. Featuring a star-studded cast including Matthew Macfadyen, Joe Wilkinson, Rahkee Thakrar, Sian Clifford, Dustin Demri-Burns and Eryl Maynard, it is a festive who-dunnit.

And as a big fan of a Christmas mystery - Hercule Poirot’s Christmas is an annual re-read for me - I loved this offering from Waitrose. The story revolves around a family of food lovers preparing for Christmas day, only to discover that the show-stopping No.1 Waitrose Red Velvet Bauble Dessert has gone missing.

It is a two-parter, which is a first for Waitrose, and it will be resolved in the coming weeks. So my rating is a provisional one - but I think I was an easy mark for this, given my love of Christmas mysteries.

Christmas rating: 4.5 Jingle Bells

November 4 

Aldi - Spirit of Christmas 

Kevin the Carrot is back - with Katie - and is on a mission to save Christmas spirit after it is kidnapped by humbugs. What follows is a montage of spy-movie inspired scenes of the two carrots sneaking into the villain’s lair. 

It has blink-and-you-will-miss-it homages to James Bond films and Mission Impossible. And of course features the now signature lovely animation style of the Kevin the Carrot adverts. 

But while I’m sure younger audiences will enjoy it - especially if they are already Kevin the Carrot fans - the whole premise is starting to feel staler than three week old Christmas leftovers. It is starting to feel rote, at least in my opinion, gone is the festive magic of the first few adverts. 

Even the threat of Christmas spirit being stolen feels pretty flat - seemingly amounting to just festive lights being turned off and then back on again at the end. But maybe I’m just being extremely Grinchy - you can let me know your own verdict. 

Christmas rating: 1.5 Jingle Bells 

M&S Christmas Food 

Starring Dawn French once again, Marks and Spencer have sprinkled yet more magic on our TV sets with this 2024 offering. The Vicar of Dibley star pulls double duty as a beleaguered woman struggling to get ready in time for Christmas - and as a magical festive fairy.

Not yet ready to host her Xmas party, she gets a helping hand to transform her home into a magical Christmas treat - complete with a hearty spread of food from M&S of course (it is the retail giant’s advert after all). She also gets a sparkling festive makeover courtesy of the fairy. 

And for the cherry on top of the (Christmas) cake it is soundtracked by the classic seasonal favourite track ‘Step into Christmas’. It is bound to be one to get you smiling each time it pops up on the tele. 

Christmas rating: 3.5 Jingle Bells 

November 3 

Lidl - A Magical Christmas 

Have to say, even before starting the advert this was a very promising name - can almost imagine the festive cheer and it hasn’t even started yet. But once it began it was even more Christmassy than I was expecting. 

It is a really strong effort - starting with a young girl noticing a boy having a tough time on Christmas morning. On her way home she stops to help an older woman who drops her shopping - and is given a pair of magic Christmas bells that can grant wishes. 

After a few moments of hijinks as Brussel Sprouts are transformed into cookies and back - and a giant gingerbread man is summoned. The advert dials up the Christmassy-ness by turn to the seasonal message of giving as the young girl uses her wish to send a present to the boy from the start of the advert. 

In the final moments, viewers are encouraged to give a toy to Lidl’s toy bank to give back this Christmas. My only real complaint is that the advert is a bit too heavy on the narration, it could have had a few moments to breathe to make this a true Christmas cracker. 

Christmas rating: 4 Jingle Bells

November 2 

Asda: ‘The Gnome of Christmas’

Instead of a big name celebrity like Michael Buble, for its 2024 Christmas advert Asda has gnome all in on, well garden gnomes. Starting in a shop that has been caught in a snowstorm, leaving just two employees who have to get it ready for the big day. 

But Christmas is saved when one of the Asda staff members activates an army of gnomes - in all shapes and sizes - to spring into action. It is a very charming affair - although I suspect the long-term reception may depend on your tolerance for gnome puns. 

Because there are a lot of gnome puns - including a gnome flavoured spin on Driving Home for Christmas. It is however charming and has a heavy sprinkling of Christmas joy - and it is bound to go down well with younger audiences due to all the hijinks of the gnomes. 

Christmas rating: 3 Jingle Bells 

November 1 

Argos - Rockstar 

Look, this is a very, very clever advert. A toy T-Rex is performing a version of T-Rex’s hit song ‘20th Century Boy’ - which is an absolutely genius idea. 

But is it Christmassy? It does have a nice ending in which the T-Rex wakes up from his dream and then is gifted the same app that he had used for his performance - thus letting him make it a reality. 

It does have a Toy Story vibe - which despite not being a Christmas movie is perfect for Christmas-time. However because of the clever pun of a T-Rex playing a song by T-Rex, the soundtrack is not the most festive, which makes it a little less festive - but it is a very fun advert. 

And it will be one that won’t become grating or get old on repeat viewings on TV. 

Christmas rating: 2.5 Jingle Bells 

Debenhams Christmas advert 2024 

This advert contrasts high street shoppers having miserable experiences in the rain, finding the right website and in queues with glamorous shoppers who use ‘Debenhams, duh’. 

It features famous faces including Actress, Elizabeth Hurley; Model & TV Host, Leomie Anderson; Comedian, Ellie Taylor; and Model/Presenter, Hannah Cooper-Dommett as the zen and stress-free Christmas shoppers who use Debenhams. 

Makes for a fun advert, but while the experience of shopping in pouring rain might be relatable - it is not exactly the most Christmassy offering this year. It does have some good festive music as the soundtrack, but you won’t be rushing to queue up Mariah Carey or track down your copy of Elf after watching it. 

Christmas rating: 1.5 Jingle Bells 

Sainsbury’s BIG Christmas 

Maker of one of the best Christmas adverts of the 2010s - the First World War themed 1914 - Sainsbury’s has tapped into childhood joy for its 2024 offering. The supermarket chain has recruited Roald Dahl’s BFG (big friendly giant) to make things a little more magical. 

Starting with a weary BFG chopping a rather prickly looking cucumber, he lists off slightly unusual festive favourites - ‘wigs in blankets’. He then asks Sainsbury’s how to make this Christmas a bit more ‘phizzwizard’. 

Together with a Sainsbury’s worker called Sophie - who can neatly fit in his bag - the BFG sets off on a journey around Britain to get the best festive ingredients (if you can count sprouts among that crowd). After assembling the feast and sprinkling it with a bit of magic, the BFG takes on the role of a Father Christmas like figure to secretly deliver food to families. 

It is a beautifully animated advert - with a stop motion like style for the BFG. However it does lack a strong emotional through line that would make it instantly iconic - but it is suitably Christmasy. 

Christmas rating: 3 Jingle Bells 

Smyths Toys Christmas advert 

The toy superstore has revealed its festive advert for 2024 - and it is a fun one, but not exactly bursting with Christmas spirit. It plays on the concept of ‘Smyths Toys’ being two magic words - which are uttered by a dad on a laptop as his daughter draws a picture of Santa. 

The magic words then begin to disperse and catch the attention of children all over - including one girl who is trapped on a flight. The makers obviously had a lot of fun with the sight gags of kids in different situations getting distracted as they hear the whispered ‘Smyths Toys’. 

It ends with the dad opening the door to a street full of kids eager to go to Smyths Toys. The Christmasy-ness of the advert stretches to basically window dressing, being instead focused on the consumer side of the holiday. 

Christmas rating: 1 Jingle Bell 

Which adverts have you enjoyed the most in 2024? Share your thoughts by emailing me: [email protected].