Asda shares first festive advert of the year starring the Grinch in a VERY unfamiliar role
Asda kicked off the festive season by launching its first Christmas ad in any major supermarket this year.
The 90-second clip, which will air on ITV’s 1% Club this evening, opens with the Grinch shopping at the Christmas market with his human family.
The famous Dr Seuss character breaks into song after seeing the cost of Christmas trees labeled simply as ‘expensive’, singing ‘the prices are terrible this year, I’ve seen some very expensive gifts’ to the tune of Frank Sinatra’s Let It Snow.
But as he sings “We’re getting pretty low, it’s a no, it’s a no, it’s a no”, the Grinch spots an Asda store in the distance and his attitude quickly changes.
He then walks towards the supermarket aisles with his wife and two young children. ‘Oh, my worries are showing signs of ending,’ he said, stunned by the apparently low prices. ‘Do I enjoy shopping?’
Later, she dances with joy through the aisles while her son does somersaults as other shoppers join in the chorus.
The party moves home with bulging bags and ‘a wallet that cries no more’, where all the people who ‘called him tight’ see that he ‘brought the party to them that night’.
The ad ends with the Grinch opening the door, walking out and reverting to his human “dad” self.
The supermarket said the aim of the ad was to get everyone ‘a bit grumpy’ at Christmas.
Asda has kicked off the festive season by releasing a Christmas advert starring the Grinch in an unusual role, the first to appear in any major supermarket this year.
The 90-second clip, which will air on ITV’s 1% Club this evening, opens with the Grinch shopping at the Christmas market with his human family.
The film was released on Asda’s social channels at 7am this morning, with the full version airing on TV at 8.30pm this evening.
The Grinch first appeared in 1957 in Dr. Appearing in Seuss’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas, the character has since appeared in dozens of adaptations; including most famously in Jim Carey’s 2000 live-action adaptation.
Asda Chief Customer Officer Rachel Eyre told the Daily Mail: ‘We’re so excited to launch this year’s Christmas campaign.
‘We all love Christmas but we also know it can come with financial pressures.
‘So this year we’re focused on helping everyone enjoy the festive season they deserve, full of joy, celebration and the reassurance of Asda Price.
‘If we can win over the Grinch, the ultimate cynic, then we know we can all have a truly amazing Christmas together at Asda with our unique mix of great products at unbeatable value.’
The advert features a variety of products, including Asda’s Chicken Sticky Skewers Frozen Party Food for £2.47 and Corn Fritters for £1.97, 3 for £5, and even a Grinch family pajama set from just £7.
The supermarket came second in this year’s prestigious Good Housekeeping Christmas taste test with 10 first and second products.
The ad ends with the Grinch opening the door, walking out, and reverting back to his human ‘dad’ self in a show-stopping ending.
Armed with a ‘wallet that no longer cries’, the Grinch hosts a party at his home and impresses his guests with a lavish feast and plenty of Christmas cheer.
In the same test, Asda named the ‘best wines of Christmas 2025’.
Asda came in second place, scoring best with Canapes, Red and White Wine, Turkey Crown and Christmas Diary.
Asda’s turkey crown was deemed truly outstanding with a score of 85/100. Prices range from £32.53 for a 1.5kg bird to £62.55 for a 2.5kg bird.
The supermarket also won the red wine category for its Extra Special Amarone at £19.97, while it also won praise in the white wine category for its Extra Special Châteauneuf-du-Pape Blanc (£23.98).
Asda also recently beat dozens of rivals to become the UK’s most awarded supermarket at this year’s International Wine Competition 2025.
The prestigious global wine competition awarded Asda 155 medals, including four Gold and 35 Silver.
Compared to its supermarket rivals, Asda received three times more medals than Sainsbury’s, more than 60 more than Tesco and more than 100 more than Waitrose.
The supermarket’s exclusive Exceptional Côte de Beaune Villages 2022 is the only supermarket with its own brand red Burgundy to be awarded a Gold medal this year.
Asda’s award-winning wine costs just £14.48, while other Gold medal winners in the same category retail for more than £250 a bottle.
IWC awarded the Asda wine 95 points overall, adding tasting notes of ‘perfumed and red plum, floral and spicy blackcurrant, elegant and complex with touches of cedarwood, textured and balanced long finish’.
Other Gold medal winners from Asda include the Outstanding Gavi di Gavi 2024 (£10.27), the Outstanding Great Western Shiraz 2022 (£7.98) and the Outstanding LBV Port 2019 (£12).
With a heritage spanning 40 years, IWC is considered the world’s most rigorous, impartial and influential wine competition and is judged by a diverse panel of global expert judges.
Asda is the first supermarket to launch its ad, while pieces from Sainsbury’s, Aldi and the famous John Lewis are believed to appear in the coming weeks.
