Aldi
United Kingdom
It’s not unusual for a Christmas ad to top the Nation’s Favourite chart. After all, Christmas is when the UK’s advertisers usually go all out on making audiences feel good, and the bad habits that can hold back British ads are left behind. Last year, John Lewis topped the list with its “Excitable Edgar” ad, but in 2020 its more abstract animated ad landed at 4-Stars.
That left the field open for another brand to succeed with a loveable character starring in an animated romp. But this was no newcomer. Aldi has been running Kevin The Carrot ads since 2016, and we’ve seen them steadily grow in popularity and emotional potency over the years. Earlier in 2020, a Kevin cameo in a Covid-19 themed ad won the carrot his first 5-Star score, and then at Christmas he went one better.
The animated ad gives Kevin a sidekick – a hedgehog – which helps the commercial as it removes some of the reliance on the VoiceOver narrator. It tells an exciting, seasonal story with plenty of opportunities to showcase Aldi’s Christmas food at the end. Kevin is one of the most successful modern Fluent Devices – recurring characters or scenarios a campaign can build narratives around – and his growing success shows how investment in such assets will pay off in the longer term too.
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