To think this year's M&S 'festive' advert is utter garbage?

[EweHaveGoatToBeKiddin]

Disclaimer: remember i said festive and not the C-word.

I cringed the whole way through. The only performance from Helena Bonham Carter that I've disliked. Roll on the John Lewis one.

Ahh I like it, especially the male model! should have been in his undies too though x

I liked it, I liked the references to the the childrens fantasy/stories. I thought it showed off loads of their products without trying to if that makes sense.

Nah. it's an amazing advert. Very clever.

Agree landrover, attractive topless men in pants always good! >> shallow emotion

She is in her undies because she has a range of undies in m and ss

Yes but why did her clothes just seemingly randomly drop off a few times? She didn't actually model any undies, her dress just vanished occasionally.

I quite like it but if I hadn't just been told it was M&S I would not have guessed. So it wouldn't actually encourage me to shop there more.

YY Grennie I can just ignore mags like Grazia if i want to but this is like a mag like that opening on the tv screen. A bit harder to avoid as it will prob be on almost every ad break for the next six/seven weeks.

I'm tolerably certain that M&S sell men's underwear too, which would be why David Gandy's clothes kept disappearing. Oh, except that they didn't.

Also, every time Rosie's clothes fell off she looked a bit cold and uncomfortable -- and she's a professional lingerie model. If she can't make it look like something she wants to wear then what hope do the rest of us have? So the ad probably actively reduced my enthusiasm for M&S underwear from "reasonably neutral" to "mildly hostile" even though intellectually I know she probably only looked uncomfortable because they'd hooked her up to a wire for "flying" effects.

And is "our A/W collection could pass for fancy dress" really a great marketing message?

Hmm, maybe, but men's undercrackers are all a bit dull, and not really more exciting than socks to receive for Christmas, so I can see why they focus on the pretty women's stuff.

What's wrong with showing underwear, we all wear it and M&S are famous for it. So advertising it is perfectly normal for them.

I think it is the way her clothes just fall off. It just seemed so tacky.

There's nothing wrong with showing underwear. It's "I've fallen down a hole and, whoops, wouldn't you know it, all my clothes have fallen off... wouldn't you know it, now they've just blown off again..." that's a bit reminiscent of the less successful Carry On movies.

The first time they fall off the character appears to be trying to cover her breasts with her crossed arms, and the second time she's clearly supposed to be cold (undercrackers not being practical garb for flying at umpteen thousand feet) and pulling her wrap around her -- so it's not "strong confident woman who just happens to be wearing underwear because, after all, we all wear it", it's "woman whose clothes have been removed involuntarily and who's now feeling cold and vulnerable as a result". It's just a bit... well... .

So I buy a cute doggie at M&S. They should have stuck with their policy of never advertising is this the old bollocks they can come up with.

Dave Gandy gives me the creeps. He looks more like Dean Gaffney with every day that passes...

DaveorDean

They should have got Jim Royle to advertise his baggy Y-fronts and white vest look.

YY Shade That would have been hilarious.

What an amazing advert, absolutely beautiful!

I really like the advert! I also thought it was amazing.
I'm glad to see I'm not the only one who likes it.

When I saw it, I wanted to know who did it. So, even though it might not be in your face, it was successful in making want to know more about it and realising it was from M&S.

I love how all their range of products were nicely displayed as part of the story. All the food products at the Mad Hatter tea party, the clothes and dresses, and even the lingerie products in the Arabian Nights scene.

I liked trying to spot all the references to classic children's stories.
Did anyone else see the Red Ridding Hood and Hansel and Gretel reference as well? Apart from the Alice in Wonderland, Arabian Nights and the Wizard of Oz?

I didn't think it was strange that she lost her clothes as she fell through the hole. That part was a reference to Alice in Wonderland, and lots of strange things happen in that story. I thought her clothes kept vanishing so she could try all the different clothes, coats and dresses that are part of the M&S range.

I liked Helena Bonham Carter, and the cute "Toto" dog, and the red shoes at the end!

Debenhams advert is annoying me especially the raunchy lingerie.

It's ok I suppose but it did remind me of Kenny Everett in his Cupid Stunt persona...."....and then all my clothes fall off!!" as Rosie HW is intermittently suddenly in her pants.

'The bit where she falls down the manhole makes me think Kenny Everett 'and then all my clothes fell off!' (old).'
Haha I had exactly the same thought!

I hated it. I hated the way her clothes fell off. Everytime I saw her in her bra I wondered whether the underwire would snap after a couple of wears like my last M & S bra.
Do you think Helena Bonham Carter wears M & S frump on her days off from being kooky?

I must re read Alice in Wonderland as I don't remember the bits where her clothes fell off and she stood around clad only in poorly made bra and pants.

But it maybe my memory as I'm old enough to get Whatisaweekend's most excellent reference to Kenny Everett.

I think I missed loads of the references others have pointed out so it seemed a bit of a mess to me.
Sadly, the David Gandy/Dean Gaffney comment has now ruined it for me forever!

I liked the ad. I generally don't like their clothing though, they were very dowdy in the Hong Kong stores. I did buy a lovely duffle coat from them but those finds (ie something i'd consider wearing) were few and far between.

Rosie HW looks very different and more ordinary on film than in her still photographs.