Consumers want branding, and if you tell them a story they don’ t see on television, they’ re receptive to that’.

Mullman

The Christmas advert launched by Hobby lobby is the most played Christmas advert so far this year, the most liked comment under this video said: “THIS IS, WITHOUT A DOUBT, THE HOLIDAY COMMERCIAL OF THE YEAR. HOORAY TO ‘HOBBY LOBBY’; THEY DEFINITELY DESERVE AN AWARD.” Many readers may be unfamiliar with the Hobby Lobby, and it was through this advertisement that I first became acquainted with it. Hobby Lobby is an industry leading retailer offering more than 70,000 arts, crafts, hobbies, home décor, Holiday, and seasonal products.

Let’s take a look at what’s so special about this advert that it’s beaten a host of bigger, more recognisable companies such as Amazon and Apple to become the most popular Christmas advert this year.

Unusual Christmas Gifts: The Warmth of Ordinary Life

At the beginning of the advertisement, it’s not quite dawn and Mom is already getting ready to go to work. The house looks a little cluttered – dirty clothes that haven’t been played with, apple cores that haven’t been thrown, dirty dishes piled up in the sink …… After a little tidying up, the mother tucks her son in, gives him a kiss on the forehead and heads out the door for work. As the son got up for breakfast, he saw the still-unwashed clothes and the undressed, crooked Christmas tree, and he then rode his bike out and sold his game console. With the money, he bought Christmas decorations, and gifts for his mother. When the mother returns home from work, she finds a brand-new Christmas wreath hanging on her doorstep and walks into the house to see newly decorated tree and clean clothes. Finally, at the end of the film, mother and son embrace.

What this advertisement is trying to say is ‘Christmas is what you make it’, But is that really the case? The implicit ideology of the film is that you need to buy decorations to make your Christmas happen.

What I like about this advert is that it’s much more relevant to people’s real lives, rather than just presenting a perfect picture of the festive season. Whereas Christmas in adverts is usually full of joy and warmth, this film boldly adopts a cooler tone, with lots of close-ups to show that our lives are not as perfect as those on the set, but that there is happiness and warmth in the ordinary that is unique to each individual.

Be aware，Media and marketing communications are merging

Nowadays, the choice of whether to watch an advert or not is more in the hands of the audience. Unlike a traditional TV screening or reading a newspaper, the initiative is more in the hands of the producer. As Scott Donaton discussed the shift of power: ‘this is the age of the empowered consumer, and that means that entertainment providers and advertisers have to move from a model based on intrusion to one that is dependent on invitation. The consumer is now in control of how and when messages reach him or her, and if the consumer doesn’t want your message it’s gone.

With the Christmas season approaching, almost every company is posting holiday-related branded contents on YouTube. branded contents are not just about promoting products, but more about promoting brands and shaping their culture and image in the minds of the public through online marketing, like Carah and Louw said: “Brands are ‘continuously created and circulated within culture’ through ‘interactions between cultural producers and consumers’.”

Take this most popular Christmas advert of the year for example, it may be very real and moving, but if we think about it, do we really need that many Christmas decorations to get the festive cheer? Or what we need more is actually just the company of our family. In the advert’s implied logic, it seems as if buying decorations is the same as buying joy, but anyone who lives in real life knows that this logic doesn’t hold true. There is a limit to the amount of joy that buying an item can bring. Thinking back, what was your happiest moment last Christmas? Was it the moment you got your home decorated or the moment you spent the festive season with your family.