Lidl is targeting middle-class consumers with its first nationwide TV campaign promoting its Deluxe Christmas range.

The campaign successfully showcases product but is let down by bad puns

However, the ad is unlikely to divert ABC1 shoppers from their usual trip to one of the big four.

The campaign showcases the range by unwrapping the food like Christmas presents, revealing staples such as turkey, pigs in blankets and mince pies. The ad makes the food look appetising, and consumers will be left in no doubt that they can shop for their entire Christmas dinner at Lidl.

The spot ends with the puns ‘Unwrap Your Perfect Christmas’ and ‘A Lidl Christmas Magic’, which may grate with some viewers.

By agency TBWA, the campaign includes several 10-second ads that smartly highlight individual products such as prawns, but even these are accompanied by a cringe-worthy pun, such as ‘Sandy Claws is Coming to Town’ for the lobster.

The campaign is set to a twee cover of the One Direction song Little Things, which the retailer has used in its regional ads before.

However, the song set to the festive proceedings makes the ad incredibly saccharine, even by the usual sentimental standards set by Christmas campaigns.

It is questionable whether the advert will win over the ABC1 target consumer or even stand out in the avalanche of Christmas adverts to come. Lidl’s competitors will pull out all the stops with big-budget, eye-catching festive campaigns.

The success of Lidl’s ads hinges on whether the product catches viewers’ fancy because the mixture of over-the-top sentiment and bad puns probably won’t help the grocer’s cause in driving the middle-classes through the doors.

A Lidl Bit of Christmas Magic