I know that most Americans don’t know what JD Sports is, but the major British sports retailer—think a mix between Foot Locker and Dick’s Sporting Goods—just released a Christmas ad that showcases the creativity that this time of year brings out in brands and creative shops. And that’s why for this week’s edition of Fast Company‘s Brand Hit or Miss videos, this new JD Sports ad is a hit. Okay, great, but why, you might ask, are we talking about some British sports store brand right now? Yes, Fast Company is American. And me? I’m Canadian. But this time of year? In advertising, it really belongs to the Brits. See, the Christmas ad season is basically the UK’s Super Bowl, with major brands of all shapes and sizes spending big on elaborate productions, with all the social fixins, to celebrate the season. Already we’ve seen the spots from UK’s big players including John Lewis, Sainsbury’s, M&S, and Waitrose, but also McDonald’s, Amazon, Disney, and more. And it’s still only the middle of November. This brings us to the JD Sports ad called “The Bag for Life.” Created with ad agency Uncommon London, the spot is a tribute to where the brand finds itself in and among British youth culture. That role is creatively played by its ubiquitous shopping bag. We see it as an accessory to daily life, slung over shoulders and holding everything from sneakers to holiday dinner leftovers. While there are famous faces sprinkled throughout—rappers Central Cee and Kano, as well as Manchester United star Ella Toone—the ad really focuses on the everyday, from the adrenaline highs of clubs and football practice to quieter moments of first kisses and bus commutes. Overall it illustrates how Uncommon and JD Sports know the value of the brand as it walks and talks in culture. Not how they imagine or wish it to be, but how it actually is. When it comes to Christmas, brands really tend to lean into the holiday hyperbole. Whether that’s depicting massive, picture-perfect meals; a hilariously sweet family disaster; or kids becoming friends with magical creatures, like the time John Lewis did it with a penguin, or a snowman, or a monster, or another monster . . . or this year, with a gigantic Little Shop of Horrors-style snapper plant. But with so many brands trying to hit people in the same festive feels, it makes this approach by JD Sports stand out even more. The brand isn’t inventing a new mascot—yes, John Lewis is selling a plush Snapper plant—but positioning its own everyday shopping bag as the star of the show. I like this approach because it makes a basic of the brand the primary focus, similar to how McDonald’s took its regular menu items and just paired them in different ways to create its massively popular celebrity famous orders. Here JD Sports is both reflecting the role that its familiar yellow totes play, and by shining a spotlight on it, securing the bag of emotional connection to the brand every time someone buys a new pair of sneakers at its stores.
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