M&S takes on John Lewis in Christmas ad battle with topless ‘shredded Santa’

The Guardian · Chloe Mac Donnell · 2026-11-06 07:00 UTC

James Norton and Lucy Punch star as a youthful Mr and Mrs Claus in lively ad about shared moments as well as shopping

For years the “Christmas advert moment” has belonged to one brand. John Lewis’s syrupy commercials featuring piano ballads and tearjerker storylines have given the 160-year-old department store a cultural head start in the dash for festive profits.

This year, however, there’s one high-street rival with a sackful of tricks to make up the ground. Marks & Spencer has brought out the big guns – in the form of a topless Santa, played by the small-screen heart-throb James Norton.

The lively M&S Christmas ad has already drawn comparisons with John Lewis’s effort, which features Kristin Scott Thomas as a glamorous granny on the hunt to turn one room of her huge townhouse into a fun “gran cave”.

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