It all seems a bit dystopian when people get excited about a company’s marketing around Christmas time, but retail chain Sainsbury’s is attempting to edge in on John Lewis’ territory with Mog the cat.
Last year, the Sainsbury’s Christmas ad left a few people emotional, and others a bit confused, when it recreated the famous moment during WWI when the English and German troops stopped fighting to play football on Christmas Day.
This time around, they went for the fail-safe option of a ruined Christmas that ended up working out alright, with the inclusion of cats, which the internet obviously loves.
Older readers might be familiar with the cat in question, Mog, who is a much-loved character in children’s books written by Judith Kerr.
A book is also being released to coincide with the ad: Mog’s Christmas Calamity shows the cat struggle with a nightmare before accidentally ruining the family’s Christmas.
Of course, under the tagline ‘Christmas is for sharing’, the neighbourhood rallies around and helps rebuild the burned-down house in time for Christmas dinner.
Released yesterday (12 November), the ad has already racked up nearly 2m views on YouTube at the time of writing.
So everything works out alright, with Mog getting to eat two halves of an egg, and Sainsbury’s gets some online loving in the middle of November, fantastic.
