Saatchi & Saatchi on Waitrose’s all-star ‘whodunnit’ Christmas cliffhanger

The first installment – complete with a tantalizing cliffhanger – invites audiences to join in and try to unravel the holiday enigma themselves.

The spot opens in a very typical way, with a family preparing Christmas dinner until all hell breaks loose and it becomes clear that someone has stolen the desert. But who is to blame? Was it the disgruntled Grandma, upset she wasn’t making the sweet this year, or perhaps the perfect hostess, Samira, who’s had enough of the holiday chaos?

To get to the bottom of the mess is Succession star Matthew Macfadyen; comedian Joe Wilkinson, Rakhee Thakrar of ‘Sex Education,’ Fleabag’s Sian Clifford, Dustin Demri-Burns of ‘Slow Horses’ and, conveniently, Eryl Maynard of ‘Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple’.

This year, Waitrose took a distinctly different approach, a deliberate shift inspired by customer feedback suggesting that Christmas advertising had become a bit too predictable, explains Nathan Ansell, the supermarket's chief marketing officer.

“A fairy here, a carrot there, we wanted to do something a little different,” he explains. “And surprise customers with something they haven’t seen before.”

The cliffhanger approach is a strategic move, tapping into the growing popularity of episode-style ads this year. Even Waitrose’s sister brand, John Lewis, has embraced the trend, building anticipation with two teaser prequel spots for its own festive campaign.

“We’re also conscious that because the advertising season for Christmas starts quite early, sometimes things can fizzle out a bit as it goes through the season,” Ansell continues. “So, we wanted to try and find ways of keeping the conversation going with customers.”

Once the ad premiers today, social media ‘confessional’ style clips with all of the actors will be live across the various Waitrose social media accounts and the brand is encouraging people to try and crack the case.

Created by Saatchi & Saatchi, the campaign taps into the rising popularity of crime, thrillers and detective stories on social media and traditional TV. The creative team took the intense pressure of preparing holiday meals and gave it a clever twist to fit this suspenseful genre.

“Christmas is a time when consumers are really looking to the ad industry and going, right, what have you got?” adds Saatchi’s chief creative officer Franki Goodwin. “This ad is the parallel of the real high stakes of a Christmas dinner and then adding a drama with high stakes to that.”

Directed by Lucy Forbes, acclaimed for ‘Eric’ and ‘This is Going to Hurt,’ the ad was filmed across multiple houses on an entire street in North London for a week. With a high-profile cast on set, Goodwin describes it as an “embarrassment of riches,” adding that watching each take was a pure joy.

Interestingly, many cast members are new to festive campaigns; as Macfadyen remarked, “I wonder if my extensive repertoire of past Detective roles led me to this very moment?”

Ansell says that despite the complexities of the shoots – schedules, time and getting all the social content – the message he wants to convey this year is simple: Waitrose food is so good you can’t wait to get your hands on it.

To keep the suspense going until the thief is revealed, which will be roughly around the end of November, the team have also partnered with ITV. Presenters will themselves be speculating who they think stole the desert. Instore, branch partners will be wearing t-shirts stating who they think did it and in select sites across the UK there will be specially built out-of-home ads.

Ansell adds: “Also on our social channels we'll have two of the UK's most famous detectives guessing who done it.”

Customers are encouraged to study the ad, there are lots of hidden easter eggs, clues and red herrings. So, who stole the Christmas dessert then? All will be revealed soon.

Watch all of the latest Christmas ads here.