Woolworths has hired a raft of celebrities for a £7 million
pre-Christmas TV offensive to reinforce its claim that its outlets are
more than just places for cheap stocking fillers.
ITV's football frontman, Des Lynam, the Pop Idols presenters Ant and
Dec, the EastEnders stars Mike Reid and Syd Owen, the comedy actress
June Whitfield and the pop group Steps all feature in a series of five
commercials breaking nationally this week through Bates UK.
Once again, the advertising brings a seasonal flavour to a theme
introduced in 1999 of presenting the stores as having so many items to
choose from that shoppers risk forgetting what they went in to buy.
The theme of "Don't forget what you went in for" is encapsulated in one
of the films featuring a woman who encounters Lynam as she leaves the
store. Seeing his moustache reminds her that she forgot to buy a pastry
brush.
Susan Wilkinson, the head of advertising at Woolworths, said: "We are
absolutely delighted with these ads and are confident they will drive
sales over the all-important Christmas period."
The commercials were written by Giles Horton, art directed by Matt Head
and directed by Declan Lowney through Tomboy Films. Media buying is
through Zenith.
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