Ashley Jensen and Heston Blumenthal front Waitrose’s lighthearted Christmas advert

Waitrose has launched its Christmas advert featuring Extras star Ashely Jensen and chef Heston Blumenthal in a celebration of the “funny side of festive food”.

Titled: “You Can Taste When It’s a Waitrose Christmas”, the supermarket’s campaign features several festive scenes, such as carol singing, opening presents, and enjoying a Christmas party.

The advert opens with Jensen and her family on Christmas morning when she receives a handmade plate from her niece.

The gift, however, is quickly upstaged by a salmon blini offered to Jensen by her mother, which the actor quickly labels “the best part of Christmas”.

Then, Jensen is shown singing carols in a doorway before producing a plate of truffle-infused prosciutto crudo and exclaiming “but this is infused with truffle.”

The following scenes follow a similar format, with Christmas food usurping the festive activity each time.

In one scene, Jensen is seen hosting a Christmas party and attempts to pass off Heston Blumenthal’s mince pies as her own. A foolproof plan, it seems, until she serves them to the man himself.

In the final scene, Jensen serves up a slice of Waitrose’s Gianduia Torta Da Festa to a table filled with different families and friends.

The tagline: “You Can Taste When It’s a Waitrose Christmas” then appears at the end of the advert.

Martin George, customer director at Waitrose commented: “Food plays such a wonderful role in creating those special moments and we know how incredibly important this Christmas is to so many people, after we were unable to have all of our family and friends around us last year.

“We felt the feasting and celebrations deserved the spotlight in this year’s campaign because after all, the best bit of Christmas is the food.”

Ashley Jensen added: “My favourite part of Christmas has always been the food, and all the wonderful occasions that come wrapped up in the festive season.

“It was an absolute pleasure to work with Waitrose on this year’s Christmas advert and I will definitely be making sure I have that truffle-infused prosciutto on my shopping list!”

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