Amazon has launched its 2023 Christmas campaign, which features three older women reliving their youth and celebrating their decades-long friendship while sledging.
The 60-second advert, which will debut on ITV on Monday evening, is called Joy Ride and is central to the e-commerce brand’s 2023 festive campaign which aims to celebrate shared moments and friendship.
It features three women who, at the start of the film, are sitting and watching young people on sledges flying down a snowy hill. Then, one of the women decides to buy the group seat cushions so they too can join in on the fun.
The next day, the trio are seen reliving their younger years by sledging down the hill with the younger generation enjoying the ride with their cushions.
The film features a stripped-back rendition of The Beatles’ In My Life. The track was chosen due to its theme of enduring friendships and shared memories.
“This year’s Christmas campaign is inspired by our Amazon customers and their thoughtful ideas and traditions,” said Jo Shoesmith, VP Global CCO, Amazon.
“The stories we tell serve as a reminder that sometimes the joy you receive from doing something special, for those you love, can uplift us all at this time of year. We also wanted to give these wonderful women the chance to celebrate the different facets of themselves and how they express joy, regardless of their age.”
The ad is the latest in a long line of festive adverts to be released ahead of the Christmas period.
On the whole, retailers seem to be shunning the tearjerkers and taking a light-hearted approach to their festive ad campaigns for 2023.
The Sainsbury’s ad focuses on a young girl asking what Santa eats for Christmas dinner in a campaign that brings in some star power in the form of a cameo appearance from singer Rick Astley.
Meanwhile, the Boots festive campaign shows a mother and daughter travelling north with a sack of gifts after the girl wonders who gives presents to Santa, handing over a Dyson Airwrap to their pilot, a mascara for the train conductor and a pair of travel flight socks for the man himself.
The Morrisons campaign features oven gloves singing along to Starship’s Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now amid scenes of Christmas dinner being prepared.
Waitrose has already debuted its first Christmas campaign from new agency Saatchi & Saatchi with an ad that charts several unfortunate moments at a festive party, such as guests arriving early and others getting locked in the bathroom.
However, the season has already seen some controversy, with M&S apologising for “unintentional hurt” after posting an outtake from its Christmas advert that showed hats in the colours of the Palestinian flag burning in a fire.
John Lewis, widely considered to have instigated the Christmas retail ad trend back in 2007, traditionally releases its campaign within the first fortnight of November.
