The yearly battle between Christmas TV ads has become a Christmas tradition in itself in the UK. This year UK brands are predicted to spend almost £6 billion on their TV adverts. However, our biggest competition for the most heart-warming, tear-jerking and charming Christmas adverts comes from overseas. Supermarkets and department stores across the globe prepare their adverts months in advance to get not just national, but international attention. Here are some of our favourites:

Germany – ‘#heimkommen’ by EDEKA Weihnachtsclip

Last year the German supermarket EDEKA Weihnachtsclip made a heart-breaking ad that split audiences. It showed an elderly man having Christmas alone as his family were too busy to see him. In an effort to get their attention the next year he faked his own death, inviting them all round to ‘mourn’ him on Christmas day. This is what split audiences. While some thought it was endearing to see the family come together only to find him alive, others thought it was somewhat dramatic. Either way, it showed how important it is to see your loved ones during the holiday season.

Spain – ‘Justino’ by Anuncio Loteria de Navidad

In 2015 an adorable advert aired in Spain by Anuncio Loteria de Navidad, Spain’s annual Christmas lottery. It follows overnight security guard Justino who works in a mannequin factory. He begins to play pranks on the factory employees and as Christmas approaches these pranks get more and more festive. Its animation feels like some Pixar films and it is one of the most wholesome adverts to come out in years.

Japan – ‘Kentucky Christmas’ 2010 by KFC

We discussed Japan’s love of KFC for Christmas in our ‘Global Christmas Traditions’ blog, but we recently discovered a Christmas advert from 2010 showing just how much Christmas and KFC go together in Japan. It shows a woman leap out of a giant KFC bucket while children dance around her also holding the iconic family size buckets. Clearly this Christmas tradition goes further than just the meal on Christmas day.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umHfb1JHovA

Poland – ‘English for Beginners’ by Allegro

Polish auction site Allegro had an interesting theme of language learning in their 2016 ad. An elderly gentleman buys an ‘English for Beginners’ set on their website and we follow his journey as he covers his house and belongings with sticky notes to learn this new language. It ends with him flying to Britain to see his family and show them his new found language skills, and shows it’s never too late to start learning a new language.

Denmark – ‘Tuborg Julebryg’ by Tuborg

In 2013 Tuborg uncovered one of their Christmas campaigns from 1984 for their ‘Christmas Brew’ beer. They brought in the slightly retro looking snowy wonderland as a change from some of the slicker ads out there, and the simple ad gets its message across well (only if you can speak Danish though).

And there you have it, the best international Christmas TV ads that would give the likes of John Lewis and Sainsbury’s a run for their money. Let us know some of your favourite Christmas TV ads from the UK and abroad!