It’s a wrap… or not. Our view on that Asda Christmas ad.

Of all the comments – and there have been many in most of adland’s leading titles – on Asda’s Christmas ad, Jamie Matthews’ (CEO of Initials Marketing) point of view seems to me the most sensible: “With the exception of the last scene and line, Asda’s Christmas ad is pretty spot on. The majority of Asda’s shopper base is mums, so the ad does a pretty good job of hero-ing mum in a set of scenes that are both realistic and to which most families can relate. We expect the ad to end on a scene with the family doing something for mum to thank her…but no…they’re all sat in front of the telly, and dad pipes up with ‘what’s for tea love’! which is perhaps where it gets into warm water slightly on the sexism front. But hey, it’s Christmas and no doubt dad would have got a good slap if they had filmed the next scene…Move on!” I like it not just because Initials is a client – lots of our other clients have perfectly pertinent views on this subject. It’s more that I can’t help thinking we’ve made a mountain out of a molehill with this (apologies to the 79+ Mumsnetters who are still arguing the toss over this). Yes, it’s sexist. Yes, it portrays women as drudges to their families. And the ‘man’ of the house is presented as a helpless and utter doofus. But so what? For all the enlightened households in the land where domesticity is shared, there are more where the Asda portrayal is an all-too tiring reality. But Christmas ads are generally all about stereotypes (I can’t think of one which doesn’t have the obligatory snowflakes/tinsel/wrapping paper/cute child/snowman – just pick the festive imagery you think works best for your brand) and this one is no different. So as Jamie says: move on.