Mulberry Christmas Advert #winchristmas

2014 Christmas adverts
Christmas adverts in the UK have undeniably taken on a life of their own in recent years. We can all remember the tears that came to our eyes whilst watching the bear and the hare bond through John Lewis 2013, whilst humming that irritatingly catchy cover music (Lily Allen, Somewhere Only We Know). Then there was the shock that occurred when we realized how good Rosie Huntington Whiteley still looked after being chased through a magical forest by M&S cards and the Queen of Hearts in Marks and Spencer’s offering to the Christmas table. This year forget Monty the Penguin (John Lewis Christmas advert 2014) and the trials and tribulations of gingerbread (Waitrose Christmas advert 2014) because the secret winner of the Christmas campaign contest could be Mulberry.

Mulberry Christmas advert 2014
The new Mulberry advert shows a family competing for the best Christmas present to a young woman; an uncanny portrait is presented, a hunky boyfriend produces a unicorn and the mother even gives an adorable puppy that waves. The advert is unusually comical for the classic Christmas ad – the funniest thing to grace our televisions in recent memory for the Christmas campaigns was probably Boots’ “because you’re the fittest girl in year ten” advertisement in 2012, but even that tugged at the heartstrings. Mulberry’s Christmas advert is refreshing in its complete comedic value, its slapstick eyebrow raises and its focus on the caricatured dysfunctional family at Christmas.

Which bag is in the Mulberry Christmas advert?
The crux of the advert is, of course, that the best present comes in the form of, you guessed it, a red Mulberry Bayswater handbag from Grandma, apparently enough to trump any gleaming white unicorn – although the puppy is still crazily cute.

Culture Whisper thinks…
With such luxury brands such as Chanel consistently going over glam (note the recent Baz Luhrmann Chanel advertisement) it's nice to see a brand embracing the funny side of fashion. Mulberry hasn't had much to laugh about of late, their Chief Executive Bruno Guillon stepped down in March after years of losses. Could this campaign mark a change in the brand's fortunes? Or has their advert missed the point of Christmas in a snapshot of consumer indulgence? With cheaper handbags and accessories for dogs, could see Mulberry 2015 make a comeback.