Every year, we look forward to the famous Christmas TV adverts [1], which, despite our best efforts, either make us all an emotional wreck (we're looking at you, John Lewis), or leave us feeling all warm and fuzzy inside.
Though we're not quite stuck inside our homes this year like we were last, it's still been a challenging time — and one that can certainly be made a little brighter through some festive cheer. It might only be the beginning of November [2], but we're loving the adverts. So far, we've been pepped up with M&S's 2021 Christmas advert, telling the story of Percy Pig (voiced by Tom Holland [3]) coming to life for the first time and exploring the shop and all of its delights with his fairy friend (voiced by Dawn French). John Lewis surprised us with its "Unexpected Visitor", which saw Nathan share all of his favourite festivities with his new extraterrestrial friend Skye.
Read on to watch this year's best festive TV ads of 2021.
ITV's Christmas Advert — Britain Get Talking Christmas
Produced in partnership with Mind and YoungMinds, ITV's star-studded Christmas advert for 2021 highlights the importance of checking in with and listening to loved ones during the festive season. The advert follows a makeup artist at ITV as celebs like Lorraine Kelly, Maya Jama, and Emily Atack stop by her chair throughout the day and rant about their days.
"We're delighted to make a Christmas campaign with a difference, reminding people to give the generous gift of listening this Christmas. After the last couple of years, we could all use an ear," Susie Braun, director of social purpose at ITV, said of the campaign.
Footasylum Christmas Advert — Fam,ily
Footasylum's Christmas advert is centred around the theme of family, and it stars comedian Amelia Dimoldenberg [4], YouTube duo Chunkz and Filly, and even features a cameo from TV chef Gino D'Acampo.
Sainsbury's Christmas Advert — A Christmas to Savour
Sainsbury's highly anticipated Christmas 2021 advert is finally here, and once again, it depicts a super sweet family setting. This time though, there's a sneaky cameo from one of our favourite drag queens: Bimini Bon Boulash [5]. Boulash appears in the advert in the form of a post-it note, seemingly as part of a "who am I game".
Aldi Christmas Advert — A Christmas Carrot
Aldi's Christmas advert has a lot going on, from Cuthbert the Caterpillar being arrested, to Marcus Rashford starring as a radish [6]. The advert is loosely based on Charles Dicken's A Christmas Carol, and seeks to spread the positive message of kindness.
Lidl Christmas Advert — Big on a Christmas you can ALWAYS believe in
Lidl's Christmas advert is an intergalactic explosion. Featuring a happy family sat around the Christmas table, halfway through, the advert takes a tech turn that makes the festive occasion bigger and better than ever before.
Lush Christmas Advert — The Snow Fairy
The Lush Christmas advert [7] is an adorable animation, welcoming back the snow fairy for the festive season. Based around one of the brand's most popular products, it's a sweet story for all to enjoy.
JD Christmas Advert 2021 — King of The Streets
OK, JD just made its way up the top of our favourites list with its advert "King of The Streets". Soundtracked by Todla T and Shaybo, the two minute ad follows a teenager who has been sent out by his mum to fetch a turkey. Instead, he gets distracted on his journey down the high street by some of the best and up and coming British talent , including Maya Jama, Aitch, Little Simz, Ms Banks — to name a few.
Barbour Christmas Advert 2021 — Paddington, Please Look After This Bear
Barbour's beautifully illustrated ad [8] was an expected heart-warmer this year. In this story, we follow Paddington as he gives Mr. Brown's Barbour jacket, which has been passed down for generations, a new lease of life by re-waxing. Of course, there is quite a bit of mess once Paddington has finished his masterpiece but with such a thoughtful gift and such a sweet face, how could anyone be mad at the clean up?
Disney Christmas Advert 2021 — The Stepdad
This year, Disney is exploring the tricky topic of blended families. The Stepdad story is heartwarming with an undertone of festive fun. The story follows stepdad Mike moving into mum Nicole's house with her two kids Max and Ella. We see them slowly all find common ground through Disney stories coming to live. Cute.
Boots Christmas Advert 2021 — Bags Of Joy
Jenna Coleman is a festive Mary Poppins in the Boots Christmas ad. After discovering her red handbag is actually a magical bag making everyone's Christmas wishes come true, Coleman spreads joy to friends and family gifting them what they've always wished for.
Sports Direct Christmas Advert 2021 — Go All Out
Sports Direct went all out with its ad this year, recruiting dozens of famous faces for the occasion. Go All Out shows off the most epic snowball fight [9] to ever go down featuring (among many others) Emma Raducanu [10], Jack Grealish, Katarina Johnson-Thompson, Big Narstie, and Jessica Ennis-Hill.
TK Maxx Christmas Advert 2021 — Christmas To The Maxx
TK Maxx's 2020 Lil' Goat advert was pretty much impossible to beat in our eyes, but the 2021 ad was still fun. This year's "Christmas To The Maxx" ad follows Laurie the organist who puts on a show at his local festive concert. At first, Laurie is nervous to begin his performance but plucks up some confidence after getting a glimpse of his incredible blue iridescent boots.
M&S Christmas Advert 2021 — Percy Pig Comes to Life
Year after year, the M&S Christmas adverts get more enticing and 2021 is no different. This year's story follows Percy pig (voiced by Tom Holland [11]) as he comes to life for the first time with his fairy friend (Dawn French). After the store closes up for the night, the pair take us through just a few of the delicious treats on offer at M&S — we're already dreaming of the triple chocolate panettone. After watching this charming ad, you'll love Percy even more than you did before.
John Lewis Christmas Advert 2021 — Unexpected Guest
John Lewis definitely produced a heartfelt advert this year, but it didn't quite tug on our heartstrings as much as previous ads. Nevertheless, it was definitely heartwarming. The story follows a young boy named Nathan and an intrepid space traveller named Skye who happens to land her space ship in the wood behind his house. Nathan makes it his mission to introduce Skye to all of the best things Christmas has to offer — Christmas lights, mince pies, movies, and snowball fights.