The Die Hard of Christmas ads

Last week, we discussed a new holiday ad from Amazon that was sweet and tender and nostalgic. Here is one from the British brand JD Sports that takes a very different but no less effective approach: an online ad called “The Bag for Life.”   

Adam Sheridan of IPSOS says this is a holiday spot in the same way Die Hard is a Christmas movie – it has all the elements of a Christmas ad from an anthem, to families eating dinner together, to friends celebrating.  However, it is packaged in a non-traditional way.  And, frankly, it may align more closely with how many people mark the holiday.

I am not British, so the iconic potency of the JD drawstring bag was lost on me initially, and probably still is somewhat.  However, this bag has become, over the last 25 years, a symbol of British youth culture that kids use to carry just about anything. 

Not only have the target consumers responded well to the ad, but older consumers have waxed poetic about the memories sparked every time they see that bag. Meanwhile, the spot also aligns with the energetic, striver ethos of young Brits that the brand has long championed. 

It’s an interesting study about how a brand can embrace nostalgia without being overtly nostalgic, and also how a holiday ad can be sweet and tender without all the standard images of snow and the sounds of jingle bells.