Santa Gets Vaxxed—Brits Lose Their Sh*t
Tesco's X-Mas spot 2nd most complained about UK Advert ever.
Since Tesco starting airing their :90 holiday commercial, “Nothing’s Stopping Us”, last month, it has received over 5,000 complaints. Why? Because of this brief shot of Mr. Claus at an airport.
It triggered the bejesus out of anti-vaxxers. But the UK’s ad “watchdog”, the Advertising Standards Association (ASA), officially cleared the ad last week, writing (via The Guardian):
“…it doesn’t break our rules and there are no grounds for further action. We consider that the depiction of Santa displaying a proof of vaccine status in an airport is likely to be seen as a humorous reference to international travel rules people have experienced this year. It is unlikely to be interpreted as a message about these rules or the Covid-19 vaccine more widely.”
FYI, The ASA must review any ad that receives even just one complaint. Image the clusterfuck shitshow if America had an ASA. That would create about 1,000 new government jobs.
OK, to the important part, my review: I have no problem with the vaxxed bearded fatso. I do have several other complaints though, none of which I’m sending to the ASA.
The use of Queen’s “Don’t Stop Me Now”. It reminds me of dead Freddie Mercury, which kills any “joy” the ad created inside me (It created none).
This woman carrying about 500 pounds of Tesco products. Impossible (Except for maybe The Rock).
Drunk plane passengers celebrating takeoff—ALL UNMASKED.
A singing Lion’s head door knocker? Nothing to add.
The ad has been described as “Festive”, “Joyous”, and “Wonderous” by various UK media sites. I describe it as “shite”. Ad agency: BBH, London.
NOTE: Below is the most complained about UK ad ever, via Irish bookmaker Paddy Power. It was released in 2014 during the Oscar Pistorius murder trial. For those who don’t know, sprinter Pistorius had both of his feet amputated when he was 11 months old. He was found guilty. The ad received over 5,500 complaints and was immediately pulled. The Tesco ad still has a shot to be number one…
I have no problem with the bearded fatso either, nor am I an anti-vaxxer. I do have a problem, however, with how out of touch this stupid commercial is. Draconian lockdown measures, especially in some countries, ruined lives and livelihoods. The idea that somehow we *all* are now going to have a festive joyous holiday season, despite the misery of the last year and a half, is insulting to me. Maybe some people will.