Thanks, Santa! There’s no naughty list this year!

ads, business, family, humor, lessons learned, travel 2 Minutes

OK, I guess it’s time to fess up.

We have not been 100% compliant with CDC and state guidelines when it comes to the Covid lockdowns.

One night this past spring on a Friday night, while our region was in a lockdown my wife, son, and I decided to take a drive into Philadelphia just to see what the city looked like during a lockdown. As you might imagine there were very few cars on the road and even fewer people walking the streets. It was kind of depressing.

We drove around the University of Pennsylvania, Rittenhouse Square, City Hall, and South Street, and hardly a soul in sight. We were probably gone for a total of 90 minutes. I’m not sure what would’ve happened if we had been stopped and asked what we were doing but fortunately that never happened.

Well, thanks to Santa, I can let go of my guilt.

According to Tesco‘s Christmas ad, Santa is absolving all customers of anything that might have landed them a place on the ‘naughty list’ this year – from bad video call etiquette to buying too much loo roll – and instead encourages them to indulge as much as they want this Christmas.

Here’s the ad:

At one point in the video Captain Tom is mentioned. He sounded vaguely familiar but he still couldn’t place the name, so I had to look them up and then it all came back. In case you forgot, here is some background info on Captain Tom:

In case you forgot, here is some background info on Captain Tom:

On 6 April 2020, at the age of 99, he began to walk laps of his garden in aid of NHS Charities Together, with the goal of raising £1,000 by his hundredth birthday. In the 24-day course of his fundraising he made many media appearances and became a popular household name in the United Kingdom, generating much interest in his life story, earning a number of accolades and attracting over 1.5 million individual donations. He featured in a cover version of the song “You’ll Never Walk Alone” sung by Michael Ball, with proceeds going to the same charity. The single topped the UK music charts and made him the oldest person to achieve a UK number one.

On the morning of his hundredth birthday the total raised by his walk passed £30 million, and by the time the campaign closed at the end of that day had increased to over £32.79 million (worth almost £39 million with expected tax rebates). His birthday was marked in a number of ways, including flypasts by the Royal Air Force and the British Army. He received over 150,000 cards, and was appointed as honorary colonel of the Army Foundation College. On 17 July 2020, he was invested as a Knight Bachelor at Windsor Castle.

Can you believe some people didn’t donate to Captain Tom?

Now I don’t feel so bad about my illicit drive into Philadelphia.

But it doesn’t matter, Santa has absolved all of us.

So go out and enjoy Christmas this year!

Published by Jim Borden

A 60-something guy trying to figure out the world, and his place in it. Happily married for 40-plus years, three wonderful sons. Accounting teacher, fitness enthusiast, blogger, reader.

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51 thoughts on “Thanks, Santa! There’s no naughty list this year!”

  3. If that’s the worst thing you did all year, I think you’re in the clear. I was familiar with the Captain Tom story. It’s never too late to set one’s goals.

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  5. I love these holiday commercials and you are gifted at finding the best ones to share. Although I loved the overall theme to this and the reference to Capt. Tom, I was most impressed with the fact that one of the actors was portraying a deaf person and signing, “So did I”. I love when commercials include all types of people and it seems more realistically the world we live in. Another great holiday post, my friend!

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  6. My problem with this ad is that it appeals to our Christmas gluttony tendencies! Not the best message, but I can see why they are attempting to bring some ‘feelgood’ into a rough time. At least the racists haven’t given this the Sainsbury’s treatment – yet…

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    1. I thought the same thing that it does appeal to our consumption habits. But I did like some of the humor that was in the ad. And at some point I will be showing the Sainsbury ad. Can’t wait to hear about the Bellowhead concert!

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      1. It was well done, I grant you, but it did feel a little as though they were working through a list of who they should include so as to appear ‘woke.’ A long way from being the best ad I’ve seen this Christmas – and I say that as a regular customer of theirs! But I do recognise that they have a difficult balance to strike. John Lewis was better, though not their best, and even Argos captured the Christmas spirit better.

        Bellowhead were great, as ever. But they only played for 80 minutes and I’ve been at their shows when they’ve played for more than 2hrs. I know they say you should leave the audience wanting more but they could have given us much more!

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      3. It’s a long way from their best, isn’t it. It brought out the pedants too: it shows a 222 bus to Tooting, but the actual 222 doesn’t go there. Some people have too much time on their hands!

        The show was good, and it was nice to see them all together again and enjoying each other’s company.

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  7. This is a really good commercial. We all need a bit of forgiveness for what we’ve done or haven’t done. As far as the pandemic is concerned, going forward we should make our best effort to protect ourselves and others. 😊

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  12. Great commercial! LOL at the “I didn’t teach them physics or math.” My kids are sooo fortunate that they didn’t have to depend on me as a teacher! 🙂
    Glad to know there isn’t a naughty list! What good news for me, too bad that it might not apply to certain mischievous “elves!” 🙂

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  13. Pingback: Naughty/Nice | Nuggets of Gold

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