In a market that is already (yes it’s only November 7) becoming oversaturated with Christmas adverts , gosh darn it if Barbour ‘s don’t conjure up the warm and fuzzies every time they come on. The reason, of course, is the brand’s collab with Shaun the Sheep , who took centre stage for last year’s ad and (because Barbour and Aardman both know a good thing when they see it) is back for more. Shaun, of course, is a national treasure at this point – almost, but not quite, on a par with Paddington in terms of cute anthropomorphised critters.
He’s the star of several movies and a TV series that have almost seen him eclipse Wallace and Gromit , the franchise he spun off from. A sheep-fluencer, if you will. He also hits the sweet spot between adult nostalgia and kid-friendly fun, which makes him a shoo-in for all things Christmas.
This time around, Shaun’s shenanigans are slightly less disaster prone. Not for Shaun the stress of repairing the Farmer’s old Barbour jacket with combs, odd buttons and bits of wool (ie. the fare of the 2023 Christmas ad).
This year, we return to Mossy Bottom Farm to find the flock being marshalled into a choir by Bitzer, the German Shepherd farm dog. All they want is to sing a couple of Christmas carols, but there’s a problem: it’s so cold that the flock are freezing solid where they stand. Clearly climate change isn’t a thing in this universe (when was the last time we had snow south of the Scottish border?) but fortunately, Bitz.