Festive food: from a Lidl gingerbread house to lickable pig wrapping paper

In the competitive world of Christmas advertising, food purveyors are bringing home the bacon. This year’s ads are going high concept to tempt hungry shoppers.

A Lidl bit unexpected

Few might be thinking of East Grinstead this Christmas, but Lidl’s got your back. The supermarket chain is marking the opening of its 1,000th UK store with the world’s first Lidl Gingerbread Store, a kit that lets fans build a mini replica of its new Surrey-based branch, complete with edible billboards and candy-cane bollards.

Marketing director Joanna Gomer talks about “mixing things up” for a nationwide celebration, but the real strategy is Lidl’s relentless, if unpredictable, expansion into edible modelling, with £100 Lidl Plus vouchers thrown into ten of the kits to drive sign-ups and goodwill.

Catch it if you can

Not to be outdone, Aldi, has opted for some porcine-based shenanigans.

Off the back of Good Housekeeping naming its Specially Selected Double Wrapped Pigs in Blankets as a Christmas 2025 winner, Aldi has launched “the world’s first” (who’d have thought it) lickable pigs-in-blankets wrapping paper, complete with scent, flavour and peel-back stickers.

In what we can only assume was a late night stuffing-fuelled PR brainstorm, what better way to do justice to its PIB-fame than creating a cult object ode to its decadent and lauded range.

Elsewhere, Lidl’s broader Christmas film ‘More to Value this Christmas’ continues the brand’s recent tradition of focusing on warmth and sharing rather than pure price shouting, following a family’s imaginative festive wishes before landing on small acts of generosity.

Dipping into the season

What happens if you don’t like Garlic & Herb dip? Perish the thought. 

Domino’s has launched its first-ever advent calendar, but instead of chocolates, each door hides a pot of its iconic Garlic & Herb Dip.

The campaign taps into the quirky calendar trend, encouraging fans to pair the dip with everything from candy canes to Brussels sprouts. A playful video shows taste-test challenges behind each door, adding a social-friendly twist. 

Available exclusively online for a limited time, the One Green Bean stunt follows Domino’s previous offbeat ideas like dip-themed Easter eggs and even a robotic delivery dog.

And to finish...

Food brands have realised then, that there’s only so much emotional soft-focus you can squeeze out of discerning Christmas viewers. This year’s foodie efforts certainly don’t lack originality in the fields of experiential, TV spots and earned media. 

Indeed, as Lidl might say: they’ve got it ‘licked’.