One of the most loved Christmas traditions has long been the sending and receiving of Christmas cards, but this has been turned on its head by M&S’ Christmas TV ad which aired last week. In one scene, it shows singer and podcaster Sophie Ellis-Bextor turning her kitchen blow-torch away from toasting meringues on a gingerbread house, to setting fire to the unwritten Christmas cards on her worktop.
“Noooo, not the Christmas cards!” was Royal Mail’s immediate reaction to the ad, which features the campaign line ‘Love Thismas (Not Thatmas)’, while the Greeting Card Association’s (GCA) ceo Amanda Fergusson put out a comment to the consumer press saying: “Many of our members have been in touch to say they’re somewhat surprised by the blow-torching of Christmas cards in the M&S Christmas ad. They know how important the £1.5billion creative card sector is to the UK – and that Christmas cards are wonderful things that support relationships, mental health and wellbeing, communities and charities. Thankfully, most of us will think about putting others first this Christmas, not themselves.”
Also fast off the mark to share her views was Jakki Brown, editor of Progressive Greetings, who posted on LinkedIn:
“I have always been a big fan of M&S, both as a consumer and as a business person, but I am appalled by the tack of its Christmas advert released this morning, part of which shows Sophie Ellis-Bextor torching Christmas cards – a product that it has long been a leading purveyor of, which spreads joy and connects people, reinforces relationships and knits communities together.
Christmas is a time of togetherness, giving and sharing and Christmas cards are an embodiment of this. To feature their destruction is like destroying societal values.This is not a time to be selfish, it is a time to care for others and cherish those who make our world.
It was only recently that M&S announced its partnership with Young Minds, a wonderful charity which does so much good work to support young people and their mental health struggles. It has been proven that the giving of Christmas cards improves mental wellbeing and staves off feelings of loneliness. M&S should have thought about this before asking Sophie Ellis-Bextor to set fire to them.”
Featuring the scenes in an Instagram reel, the caption “Do what you love this festive season, even if it means choosing Christmas calls over cards. (But also, our Christmas cards are very nice 😉) cut no ice with many others in the greetings community. Gift and card retailer Number 14 Ampthill’s owner, Jo Barber, was the first to comment on the M & S post, saying: “I truly don’t understand why you think this is good? The sending of cards at Christmas brings joy to so many, especially those who are lonely or struggle at this time of year. I dread to think how the charities your cards are meant to support feel watching this today.”
M&S responded to Jo and other detractors saying: “The ad is all about the traditions you love while recognising that this will be different for everyone – that’s what makes Christmas Christmas!”
At gift and greeting card retailer Red Card in Petworth, owner Sally Matson made an official complaint to M&S as well as posting: “Pretty horrified actually. As a brand that is respected by so many, this advertisement is wrong on so many levels. The current culture of doing what you want post-Covid has resulted in people behaving so unkindly towards each other and the whole idea of doing what you want is not really an appropriate or timely message.
Continued Sally: “On top of that, I am a greeting card retailer and to show someone torching a pile of greeting cards, when you take into consideration the joy a greeting card brings, the charitable donations they raise and the connection between people they encourage, you really have got this message wrong. Shame. And you sell such nice cards – your stationery department must be so disappointed, not to mention the charities you claim to support.”
In a LinkedIn post, Michael Apter, who owns three Paper Tiger gift and card shops in Edinburgh, pointed out how impressed he’s been recently with the turnaround in M&S’s fortunes, adding: “I have said to several people that M&S are on fire right now. I didn’t mean it literally, but their new Christmas advert is a bit of a head scratcher. It seems very odd that they have chosen to torch one of their own Christmas product categories. From an industry perspective, it’s disappointing to see M&S casually burning a market sector worth £1.5bn to the UK economy.”
The TV ad is set across four different homes each featuring a British household name. In addition to Sophie Ellis-Bextor it features actress Hannah Waddingham, style expert Tan France, and actress Zawe Ashton, all suddenly deciding which Christmas traditions they’ll embrace this year and which they’re going to skip. Driving home the message is Ray BLK’s specially-recorded cover of Meat Loaf’s I’ll Do Anything For Love (But I Won’t Do That).
Top: Christmas cards go up in flames in M&S’ TV Christmas ad.
