Sainsbury's Christmas advert 2024 brings Roald Dahl's BFG to life in 'moment of joy'

Sainsbury's Christmas advert has now landed and Roald Dahl's loveable character - the BFG - takes a lead role as he heads to the supermarket to do his shopping

The much-anticipated battle of this year’s Christmas adverts has begun, with Sainsbury’s the first supermarket to bring out their campaign.

This year, it features an appearance by beloved Roald Dahl character the BFG, who enlists the help of a real Sainsbury’s food services assistant, who plays Sophie in the advert, to source his Christmas dinner.

It uses special effects such as puppetry and CGI to bring the BFG to life, while Sainsbury’s worked with the Roald Dahl Story Company to ensure the character was as close to the 1982 novel as possible.

Sainsbury’s head of campaigns, Emma Bisley, told The Mirror that this year’s advert had a real “focus on joy and nostalgia”. She added: “Although the BFG isn’t a Christmas character, he has a lot of childlike traits and magical, festive things about him. Everyone does look forward to the Christmas adverts coming out, they are real moments of joy.”

The advert also ties in to Sainsbury’s work with its longtime charity partner Comic Relief, who will distribute over five million meals to families experiencing food poverty this Christmas, as it shows the BFG giving some of his Christmas meal items to a family.

Last year, Sainsbury’s was also the first supermarket to bring out their campaign, with an ad that included a celebrity cameo by singer Rick Astley.

Meanwhile Argos, which was acquired by Sainsbury’s in 2016, has brought out an advert directed by The Greatest Showman filmmaker Michael Gracey.

It sees the return of Argos brand mascots Connie the doll and Trevor the dinosaur, who lives out his dream as a rock star in front of an adoring crowd of thousands of Connies. Watch it here.