The Die Hard effect: seasonal ads that aren’t about Christmas

I'm going to kick this off with a BIG assertion: Die Hard is not a Christmas movie. 

Fight me. (And then cast me, screaming in slow-mo, from the 30th floor of an L.A. sky-scraper…)

Or rather, bear with me. Because, more precisely, I think that Die Hard is an action movie set at Christmas. It’s not about Christmas. And this is a subtle but extremely important distinction. 

What does it mean to make an ad set at Christmas rather than overtly about Christmas?

Why? Because by not being about Christmas, it liberates the film from the weight of cliched Chrimbo cues - thematically, narratively, emotionally - allowing it to be the deceptively satirical and perfectly-wrought action movie that it is.

It’s a neat trick, and one that made me think when viewing this year’s Christmas ads: what does it mean to make an ad set at Christmas rather than overtly about Christmas? Is there a difference? And if so, what can we learn?

Above: A 'seasonal' image from Die Hard.

It could be me, but with Christmas ads increasingly becoming ‘event’ moments for brands in category and culture, it feels like the well of insight is growing shallower. It’s been a couple of years since I wrote strategy for a Christmas ad, and, to be honest, I don’t envy the teams desperately trying to find an original thought that is at once emotional, on-brand… and ‘Christmassy’. 

One of my old bosses used to have a saying: "Your strategy is showing". And while I say this with profound sympathy for the task, the strategy definitely feels like it’s showing more each year. Insight: At Christmas, the pressure of conforming to rituals can be suffocating, so why not cast them off and just do you? Insight: At Christmas, there’s always someone who focuses more on providing for others, so why not treat them? Insight… etc.

Will we one year, be clawing desperately at the bottom of our stockings for one last Christmas insight only to find it empty?

This scrabbling for strategic difference is also evident in that old pitfall of relying on slightly ropey statistics to justify an insight. Vodafone claimed that in trying times, ‘almost half (46%) of people want to see Christmas campaigns that remind them of better times’. That’s almost half. And Tesco’s effort this year was inspired by their 2023 Christmas report which found that ‘nearly a third of UK adults (31%) say they find the build-up to Christmas more exciting than the day itself.’ Nearly a third!

Where does this all end? Will we one year, be clawing desperately at the bottom of our stockings for one last Christmas insight only to find it empty? Well this is where our Die Hard approach comes in…

Above: The Bag for Life by Uncommon and Iconoclast. 

Let me explain with one ad which I think exemplifies it perfectly. It’s JD Sports’ The Bag for Life by Uncommon and Iconoclast, directed by Amara Abbas.

At first glance, it’s not even a Christmas ad. But that’s because it’s not about Christmas. It’s about one of JD’s most iconic (and distinctive) brand assets - their drawstring bag. What the spot does, is celebrate the role this plays in the lives of Britain’s youth. Yes, it’s set at Christmas because this provides a rich tapestry for reflection and allows them to place the bag - and the brand - in emotionally resonant scenes of community, togetherness and tradition, old and new. But it’s not about Christmas. It doesn’t need to be.

If you give yourself permission to start outside of the customs, rituals and culture of Christmas and instead think about more universal human stories that can unfold at this time of year, everything opens up. 

It’s a deft love letter to youth culture but also an unashamedly focused piece of brand marketing. Will it go down as one of the all-time greats? Maybe not. Do I understand what the horse is doing in there? Absolutely not. But does it signal a refreshing way of approaching Christmas ads? I think so.

If you give yourself permission to start outside of the customs, rituals and culture of Christmas and instead think about more universal human stories that can unfold at this time of year, everything opens up.