Post lockdown/Christmas ads from Albert Heijn, McDonalds Australia and Stella

The heart rather sinks when one’s invited to “have yourself a merry little Christmas” for the umpteenth time but Dutch supermarket Albert Heijn and agency TBWA/Neboko have produced a (winsome) spin on Christmas winsomeness with a tale of two hamsters. The small creatures are not so well equipped for snowy hazards but hamster love (or lust, possibly) conquers all.

No snow in Oz at this time of year (or any time as far as I know) so it’s a celebration of summertime in what they hope is, finally, post-lockdown from McDonald’s and DDB Sydney.

DDB Sydney is good at capturing the essence of Australia with a dash of humour and it’s here all right.

See that the Aussies are, indeed, reverting to normal – mullering England at cricket for starters. Normality’s a great thing..

Back in blighty Mother has produced a snappy effort for Stella Artois with chef Marco Pierre White, not known for his softer side, advising us to be nice to bar staff over Christmas. Stella has supported these paragons in various ways through the pandemic.

Typical Mother, blessedly incapable of doing the obvious.

By the way, on the subject of Australia, try to catch an old Masterchef Australia (all over YouTube) with great chef Marco putting contestants through their paces. “Yes Marco,” they trill obediently as he makes a nuisance of himself.

MAA creative scales (the three, might be a bit generous here): 7.