As Christmas adverts return to our screens, many spark feelings of festivity and joy - but as the cost of living crisis continues to worsen, some supermarkets have opted for a more delicate approach in their annual campaigns this year.
Indeed, major companies such as Lidl and Tesco have both stressed the importance of providing affordable products this Christmas, a time when many families are drowning in rising electricity, gas and food bills.
Tesco's Christmas advert reassures an affordable yet joyful festive season. "The only thing we'll cut are prices," they say.
Lidl's advert features a young girl's teddy bear becoming the face of the supermarket's advertisement and reinforces their slogan this Christmas season: "Big on quality, Lidl on price."
John Lewis' advert, featuring a foster family, was less about materialistic gifs and focused more on the importance of family and kindness. This is arguably a more sensitive message given the current circumstances that are causing many families to struggle with rising prices - the reactions of which on social media were largely positive.
In light of this, many retail experts posed the question of whether scenes of elaborate festivities send the right message this Christmas.
John Lewis is the latest large corporation to express its important message to those around the UK.
"I don't think we're going out there saying, 'don't buy anything'. Because we wouldn't be in business," said Claire Pointon, director of customer services at John Lewis. "But this advert is not about 'go and buy things. This advert is about saying how can you as an individual show kindness to someone else who may need it? I think that's quite an important message at Christmas."
