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Oh deer! After James Norton stripped off the M&S and Kristin Scott Thomas starred for John Lewis, National Lottery’s flying reindeer enters the Christmas ad wars
The National Lottery has entered the Christmas advertising season with a campaign about a reindeer determined to learn to fly. The story presents persistence and festive possibility as its themes, while a hiker who spots the flying reindeer clutches a Lottery ticket, suggesting that extraordinary things might happen.
The reindeer repeatedly falls into a pond before finally taking flight, encouraged by a red robin. Allwyn marketing director Steve Parkinson said Lottery tickets help generate more than £33 million for good causes each week and can also create life-changing winners. The article compares the campaign with John Lewis’s advert, criticised by some viewers for its portrayal of grandchildren and gift-giving, and M&S’s commercial featuring James Norton.
In short
- The National Lottery’s Christmas advert follows a reindeer learning to fly.
- The campaign centres on persistence and festive possibility.
- Lottery tickets raise more than £33 million for good causes each week.
Steelman: both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
The advert uses a light-hearted festive story to link hope and persistence with the possibility of a life-changing Lottery win. Its supporters might argue that it also draws attention to the Lottery’s funding for good causes and offers seasonal entertainment without promising that every ticket-holder will win.
The case against
Critics might see the advert as using an appealing tale of extraordinary possibility to make gambling feel like harmless Christmas fun. Even if it mentions funding for good causes, that framing could underplay the very low chance of winning and encourage people to buy tickets in the hope of a life-changing outcome.