In a year when Christmas felt more uncertain yet more needed than ever, this Sainsbury’s Christmas advert aims to celebrate memories with loved ones and transport viewers through time by centring around personal stories of modern British families and their connection to Christmas food.

The stories are brought to life through a combination of home-video-style footage and phone conversations between family members in the present day, as the nation continues to connect with each other from wherever they are.

This spot tells how a father and daughter’s excitement for Christmas gets them talking about Dad’s gravy and his ‘famous’ gravy song. The song brings back memories of years gone by, as the daughter tries to cope with the embarrassment of her Dad’s singing, whilst admitting her love for the gravy (and the song, really).

All of the leading UK supermarkets joined together to take a stand against the racist online backlash that followed the release of this ad. Aldi, Asda, Co-op, Iceland, Lidl, Marks & Spencer, Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Waitrose ran their adverts back-to-back during two primetime slots on Channel 4, with the hashtag #StandAgainstRacism. Normally, competitors actively avoid airing their ads close together.

A Channel 4 announcement introduced the ad break, saying: “Channel 4 stands up against racism. After the reaction to this year’s Sainsbury’s Christmas commercial, retailers have put their usual festive rivalries aside across two ad breaks tonight to stand side-by-side with us too.”

From the get go the main objective for this advert was the authenticity of the footage. The directors shot the memory footage on camcorders and mobile phones from the era rather than relying on post production techniques. This ethos was carried through in the art direction and costume for each year featured. The casting of the little girl through the years was also a challenge, especially with the

limitations that Covid brings.