Have you ever watched an advert and wondered whose story it’s really telling?

On November 6th, 2024, Boots released their #MakeMagic Christmas advert starring Andjoa Andoh as a bold and unconventional Mrs Claus. While some viewers celebrated its creativity, others decried it as yet another departure from ‘tradition.’ But what lies behind these polarised reactions?

Some people valued how it creatively challenged traditional depictions of Father Claus, while bringing Mrs Claus into the spotlight: 

Great advert featuring women. Leading lady Mrs Claus’

Absolutely fabulous ad. Creative, beautiful, remarkable, genius!!! Slay!!!

‘Hahahaha! I LOVE IT! It’s witty and fun and fabulous, and I love that actress! Christmas ads don’t have to be traditional.’

But it also sparked some backlash:

‘Can we not just have traditional Christmas adverts ffs’

‘Don’t see myself represented here, Boots obviously don’t want my business.’

‘So as I white English man I won’t be shopping in boots anymore !!!!!’

The latter 3 quotes are from the comment section of the Boots YouTube video and, in total, have received up to 5,500 likes. This is not the first time a British Christmas advert has sparked controversy. Sainsbury’s 2020 Gravy Song advert, which featured a Black family celebrating Christmas, received eerily similar backlash. This pattern reveals a recurring discomfort with diverse representation in media, especially during cultural moments like Christmas. 

Despite this fierce and consistent backlash, diverse representations in advertising are becoming increasingly popular. According to Jessica Ringrose and Kaitlyn Regehr, 75% of Londoners think that adverts in London should reflect the diversity of the city’s population. Most people, at least in a cosmopolitan area like London, acknowledge the value of representing diverse audiences. There is the commercial value — from a brand’s perspective, being able to connect with your audience is crucial if you want to sell your product or service. People are more likely to notice an advert if it speaks to them, and consistently ignoring a demographic does not allow for sales to reach their full potential. At the same time, there’s the societal value. Seeing a range of people on screen represented accurately and positively humanises them and dismantles harmful stereotypes, fostering an inclusive environment. As a British Pakistani woman, seeing diverse representation in media feels like a quiet affirmation — a reminder that my story, too, deserves to be seen and celebrated. It helps me embrace how my heritage makes me different because it shows me that there is space for my difference to be celebrated and not shamed. 

With all this in mind, why is there so much backlash? All the negative comments encapsulate a general disliking of moving away from tradition. There seems to be a preference for brands to represent who has traditionally been represented while upholding norms and beliefs that have been ingrained for centuries. Christmas, steeped in tradition and cultural nostalgia, amplifies these feelings of unease when its imagery begins to shift. But behind this adamance could lie a sense of fear and insecurity. Our society is changing so rapidly with the rise of globalisation and digitalisation, leaving some people feeling lost. These changes are starting to empower groups that, traditionally, have been marginalised, which could mean that more privileged groups feel excluded and left behind in these changes. Harris and Jackson suggest that diversity initiatives feel threatening to those accustomed to dominance, as they challenge deeply ingrained power hierarchies. To some, a hierarchy of power and influence is so ingrained that it is hard to imagine a society where this hierarchy does not exist. Therefore, to them, uplifting other groups is synonymous with oppressing their group. 

The backlash also holds a disdain for ‘wokeism’ and the belief that, by introducing more diversity into adverts, brands are pushing this supposedly radical ideology down our throats. But, as Althusser has proven through his ‘ideological state apparatus’, everything in society perpetuates some sort of ideology. A white Santa Claus running Christmas is just as interlaced with ideological messages as a black Mrs Claus doing the same thing. But most people wouldn’t see the former as evidence of ideology because it is so commonly seen that it is viewed as the ‘default’. Everything that deviates from this default or norm is seen as abnormal or radical. But seeing diverse representation as absurd does not mean it is absurd, it just means that we are heavily conditioned into seeing a certain group or idea on screen. The backlash therefore does not open our eyes to the radicalisation media outlets are trying to pull off. Instead, it shows us what the dominant ideology in our society is and how much more work we have to do to dismantle it. 

Roland Marchand argues that adverts are a ‘social tableaux’ the ‘reflect society’ so, based on this, adverts need to evolve to reflect our more diverse society from both a commercial and a social viewpoint. This evolving will attract backlash because change causes discomfort — but this doesn’t mean we should let it dictate progress. 

Prompts for reflection

Here, I encourage you to think further about what I’ve discussed.

• Why are traditions so fiercely defended? Could this be holding us back?
• How can diversity and tradition coexist? What would that look like?
• What kind of society do we want our media to reflect?

Let’s spark a conversation — share your thoughts below and respectfully challenge someone else’s perspective. Together, we can explore what representation truly means in our society.