It’s an upbeat animated animal Christmas in the UK from retail rivals, Very and Argos. And both are relying on last year’s successes to fuel this year’s wins.  

Argos and agency, T&Pm, bring back Trevor the dinosaur and Connie the doll. Trevor plays a rock star performing his own cover of T-Rex’s classic hit, 20th Century Boy, to adoring fans on top of a Marshall speaker mountain. The campaign continues to build on There’s More To Argos, the brand platform that launched last year, highlighting the range of unexpected and desirable products the retailer offers. The underlying promise is that the retailer can answer customers’ festive dreams no matter what they are.

The Christmas film was, directed by Golden Globe winning director, Michael Gracey animated by ETC, with music from David Kosten and sound by Munzie at Wave. The full campaign includes the 40-second spot, a 30-second TVC cutdown that launched on November 1, high-impact OOH running across the UK from November 4 and 10-second TV spots from November 18.

Very has filled its Christmas commercial with bright flamingos and a rousing song again. And like Sainsbury’s, it is re-running the 2023 commercial.

The flamboyant birds, created by The Gate and Nexus Studios gave the brand a popularity win last year (as well as a 22% increase in target customer’s buying consideration and 3.4% sales growth over the previous year). Very has continue to use the flamingos, Kerry, Cherry and Terry in subsequent campaigns.

Supporting the 60-second spot is a collection of assets including a new toys campaign:

…as well as a partywear collection under its new Haus of Flamingo platform and a celebrity-studded partnership with ITV to help customers solve their Christmas conundrums.