The Christmas gauntlet has been thrown – so who has the best Christmas telly advert?

Many companies have only just hit the screens and web with their Christmas adverts but there already seems to be a clear leader this year, John Lewis’ The Bear and the Hare.

What makes these adverts so compelling and unmissable? Is it the great sales message making us rush out to their store for our Christmas shopping? Or is it simply more about the story and building brand awareness and less about the product?

The 2013 Christmas Advert League Table

Company	Advert	YouTube Views*
John Lewis	The Bear and The Hare	7,280,890
Marks & Spencer	Believe in Magic & Sparkle	752,750
Argos	Gifts for Santa	632,727
LittleWoods	Spread the cost	485,940
Sainsburys	Christmas in a Day	346,687
Tesco	There's nothing better than Christmas	317,358
Boots	Full of Surprises	236,799
Cadbury	Unwrap Joy	123,834
Morrisons	Go on...its Christmas	120,693
Lidl	Unwrap your Lidl Christmas	75,585
Debenhams	Wishes made fabulous	65,570
Asda	Snowman	45,892
TK Maxx	The Moment	22,712
The Co-operative	Relax, Christmas is just around the corner	12,487

*Based on YouTube videos posted by each company directly as of 19/11/13. The stats do not take into consideration additional posts of videos by other users.