Waitrose is simply having a metatextual Christmastime

If you were unlucky enough to study postmodernism at any point during your academic life, you’ll likely half-remember a little too much about the concept of metatextuality.

If those long nights down the SU have left you with a memory like a colander, a quick refresher: Metatextuality is a form of intertextual discourse in which one text makes critical commentary on another text. Got it? Good. Because this year’s Waitrose & Partners Christmas advert is the most metatextual we’ve seen this year so far.

Cast your mind back to the tail end of last week. Giddy, nervous, slightly sweaty, you clawed open your laptop and sat back, almost quivering with anticipation over the 2018 John Lewis Christmas advert. It was here! Finally! And then…it was a two-minute clip about Elton John’s piano.

That very same advert is the basis of the first of six short clips that make up the middle-class supermarket of choice’s Christmas campaign. We see a family fast forwarding their way through the short film about Elton in order to get to the real deal: a Waitrose Dark Chocolate and Orange Stollen Wreath!

Running with the theme of “too good to wait” the series of adverts – the first of which debuted last night during a break on the series-opening episode of I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here! – are, in Waitrose’s words, light-hearted examinations of how “Christmas is about enjoying great quality food with the people who matter most.”

It is the first time that Waitrose and its parent company John Lewis have worked together on a Christmas campaign. “We’re thrilled to work with our colleagues at John Lewis & Partners to create a unique advert that highlights our special partnership," says Martin George, customer director at Waitrose and Partners. "Fast forwarding their fantastic ad may seem a bit extreme but it just shows that nothing stands in the way of enjoying our delicious stollen.”