Retailer to run festive campaign before John Lewis and Asda, who will screen their ads during The X Factor
Tesco is looking to steal a march on supermarket rivals Asda and Sainsbury's by launching its Christmas TV campaign on Friday night during ITV's Coronation Street.
The Tesco ad will be themed around the strapline "There's nothing better than Christmas" and will not be celebrity-focused. Previous Tesco Christmas ads have featured celebrities such as the Spice Girls.
Unlike John Lewis and Asda, Tesco has chosen not to launch its Christmas campaign during Saturday's X Factor, which in recent times has been the preferred programme during which to launch major commercials.
Instead, viewers will be able to see the Tesco ad for the first time either during Friday's Coronation Street and during Sunday's Downton Abbey on ITV.
"Tesco is trying to beat its rivals by launching before them," said one industry source.
Retailers' Christmas campaigns have become major events, as they each look to outsell rivals over the crucial festive period.
This year Marks & Spencer had a cinematic screening to launch its Christmas campaign, which debuted earlier this week and features Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Helena Bonham Carter and model David Gandy.
Tesco, whose campaign has been created by ad agency Wieden + Kennedy, will go head-to-head with Morrisons, which is also launching its Ant and Dec fronted Christmas campaign on Friday.
On Saturday, John Lewis, which is taking over a whole ad break during The X Factor to premiere its latest Christmas ad as it looks to offer something different from its rivals, will go up against Asda.
Sainsbury's, as in previous years, will launch its Christmas ad campaign later in November.
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