Nothing says 'it's time to open your wallet and create six months of New Year debt' like the advent of this year's Christmas advertisements from the big retailers. TV Editor Stacia Briggs will be reviewing the big hitters as they launch their festive campaigns.
The pumpkins are still rotting on the doorstep but Argos is keen to let us all know that it has us covered when it's not just Halloween that's falling to pieces, it's all our carefully laid Christmas plans.
The retailer has invented its own Grinch, or Christmas Fool, which is determined to ruin festivities at all costs: I think we all know a few of them.
In past years, Argos recruited a gang of eight-foot tall, furry neon Yetis to deliver its products during a snowstorm to the backing track of 'What's This?' from The Nightmare Before Christmas, so I had high hopes. Because nothing says 'Christmas' more than rainbow neon Yetis. This year, the retailer is pinning its hopes on a creature that lives in the loft and gets its kicks by ruining everyone's holiday. Merry Christmas!
Argos: The Christmas Fool (1 min 36 seconds)
What happens? A creature that looks like the lovechild of Dobby the Elf from Harry Potter and Morph is running riot around a family home while they try to prepare for Christmas. The pink bell-eared mischief maker breaks fairy lights, steals sticky tape, removes instructions for toys, runs away with vital game pieces and boots a fairy from the top of the tree. But the impish home wrecker is foiled by the SHEER JOY OF CHRISTMAS (being able to click and collect at Argos) and is crushed flat by the front door and then drop-kicked back into the loft. Ah, the true meaning of Christmas, fighting those that live in your house using brute force.
* Anything unusual in the ad? More unusual than a bell-eared clay beserker? It's the first time that Sainsbury's features in an Argos Christmas advertisement.
* Is there a winsome male/female vocal delivered in a breathy style? No. It's quite operatic and dramatic.
* Actual product shots? Yes, Lord Sugar.
* Does the Christmas Fool really exist? It is time to admit that we are all our own Christmas Fool. It's us that breaks the fairy lights and us that throws away the instructions. We are the Christmas Fools and Argos knows it.
* I thought Father Christmas bought the presents, not Mums and Dads? Hush now. Move along. Nothing to see here.Conclusion: I quite like this, especially the cartoon violence and mean-spiritedness of the creature. To paraphrase The Smiths, this says something to me about my life.
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