Retailers have fired the starting gun on Christmas advertising season by launching their festive campaigns earlier than usual.

Marks and Spencer revealed its Christmas TV spot on Wednesday, several days earlier than last year, while Asda also released a teaser for its seasonal pitch to shoppers.

It comes as retailers aim to improve sales over the holidays following years of stretched finances for households after the COVID pandemic and the ongoing cost of living crisis.

M&S‘s advert stars celebrities including Ted Lasso actress Hannah Waddingham and singer Sophie Ellis Bextor.

Ray BLK provides the soundtrack with a cover of Meatloaf’s I’d Do Anything For Love (But I Won’t Do That).

The promo highlights the joy of “doing what you love” over the festive period, with the chain promoting its campaign alongside the hashtag #LoveThismasNotThatmas.

M&S declared on X, formerly Twitter: “Christmas has arrived”.

It comes after the brand focused on community causes and gift giving last year, as part of a partnership with The Neighbourly Foundation, with an advert featuring Harry Styles song Treat People With Kindness.

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Asda‘s one-minute Christmas promo features supermarket workers browsing shelves looking at new products before they discover Michael Buble in a store room – and are greeted by him singing It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas.

The advert concludes with the claim: “Pop the Buble, it’s officially Christmas”.

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The supermarket chain described the teaser as a “sneak peek of its much-anticipated Christmas advert” and “a taste of what’s to come”.

The fuller, 90-second version is set to be released this Saturday 4 November.

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Meanwhile singer Mariah Carey has also declared that the festive season has begun after she released her annual Christmas countdown video on Wednesday.

The clip, posted on the star’s social media channels, shows characters in Halloween masks defrosting the artist from a block of ice – before she emerges and breaks into her hit song All I Want For Christmas Is You.