United Biscuits’ (UB) Christmas TV debut for its McVitie’s Victoria biscuit selection will kick off on 4 December.
The company, which has just been sold to Turkish food group Yildiz Holding for £2bn, has made an investment of £1m that will see the popular branded biscuit assortment featured in a 60-second advert during high-profile programmes for the three weeks leading up to Christmas Day. The advert is an extension of the ‘sweeet’ animal family debuted earlier this year in the McVitie’s master brand advertisements.
A longstanding consumer favourite, McVitie’s Victoria returns to shelves this season in a new hinged box, designed to give a more modern and premium feel. Following UB’s investment in packaging technology, the revised format will also contain two re-closable individually-wrapped foil film trays as well as weighing in 200g heavier at 700g (RSP £10).
Meanwhile, McVitie’s Penguin brand has also tapped into the John Lewis Christmas advert, and has created a Monty the Penguin-inspired ‘tearjerker’ advert using the hashtags #MontyThePenguin and #sweeet. Its ‘sweeet’ campaign also uses animals to help its products appeal to children.
Sarah Heynen, marketing director for sweet biscuits at UB, said: “The launch of McVitie’s Victoria onto our TV screens this Christmas marks another momentous occasion for McVitie’s at the end of what has been a highly successful year for the brand.
“Although we are keeping the stars of the campaign under wraps, we hope our customers will be as excited as we are to see the debut of Britain’s best-loved biscuit assortment on TVs in homes throughout the country. We expect a positive response from consumers following the success of the McVitie’s ‘sweeet’ TV campaign earlier in the year so will be working closely with our retail customers to ensure they can meet anticipated demand.”
Private equity fund business Blackstone and PAI Partners handled the deal with international biscuit manufacturer Yildiz Holding, which already owns chocolate brand Godiva.
If you havn’t seen the infamous John Lewis Christmas advert yet, which inspired UB’s penguin campaign, then watch it below.
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