Waitrose Gets Meta as Latest Christmas Ad References John Lewis Elton John Spot

Move over Deadpool, there’s a new fourth wall-breaker in town. UK supermarket Waitrose & Partners - sister company to John Lewis - launched the latest in it’s series of six festive TV ads on Sunday evening. And this one incorporated the much-talked about John Lewis ad starring Elton John in a bit of seriously meta creative. 

Acknowledging the John Lewis ad as a big moment in the modern British Christmas calendar, the spot from creative agency adam&eveDDB sees a teenage girl gather her family around the TV to watch the big ad - but mum and dad just can’t wait to get the whole thing over with to scarf some festive treats. It’s the first time in its history, the retailer has worked with sister company, John Lewis & Partners, to produce this particular Christmas advert.

As the family devour the delicious stollen, the girl’s father comments that he preferred the one with the penguin, at which the daughter rolls her eyes.

‘Fast Forward’, ties in with the overall theme of the supermarket’s campaign this year - Too Good To Wait  - that Christmas is about enjoying great quality food with the people who matter most. Prior spots in the campaign featured a frantic choir rattling through their setlist of carols to dig into some mince pies and a blossoming, mistletoe-induced romance cut short by some appetising turkey.

This year, Waitrose has has produced a series of 30 second TV ads, rather than just one this year, with each advert celebrating the important role food plays in each home at Christmas, and features a familiar seasonal scenario, in which, families and friends hurry through to get to enjoy their festive fare.

Martin George, Customer Director at Waitrose & Partners, says: “We’re thrilled to work with our colleagues at John Lewis & Partners to create a unique advert that highlights our special partnership. Fast forwarding their fantastic ad may seem a bit extreme but it just shows that nothing stands in the way of enjoying our delicious stollen.”

Craig Inglis, Customer Director at John Lewis & Partners, meanwhile, is torn between his showpiece Christmas spot (currently sitting at over eight million YouTube views) and his sweet tooth. “Frankly, it’s hard to believe our colleagues at Waitrose & Partners would choose a stollen over us but, as a big fan of the chocolate orange combo, I suppose if anything can trump an ad starring Elton John, it's their amazing stollen - some food IS just too good to wait for,” he says. 

Created by adam&eveDDB, the creative agency behind both Waitrose & Partners and John Lewis & Partners - with media planning by Manning Gottlieb OMD, the advert is the third in a series of six for the supermarket. The spot launched during the Sunday night premiere of survival show ‘I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here!’, where the menu tends to be rather more stick insect than stollen.