Richard Ayoade needs a Christmas present for his mother, and he dismisses Argos as a toy shop. Two of the retailer’s toy mascots then haunt him back through the catalogue Christmases of his childhood to show him what Argos sells today. The film, “Tales of Argos Past,” spoofs A Christmas Carol and is built on the line “There’s more to Argos.”
A Scrooge in Mustard Corduroy
The film opens with Ayoade on a sofa in a mustard corduroy suit, on the phone and stuck for a gift. When the caller suggests Argos, he scoffs, “Argos? For Mother? They’re a toy shop.” The room goes dark.
Two glowing figures appear. Connie, a doll, introduces herself as “the ghost of Christmas presents.” Trevor, a dinosaur, is “the dinosaur of Argos past,” and he drags a stack of old catalogues the way Marley’s ghost drags his chains.
Back to the Catalogue Carpet
The ghosts take Ayoade back to his childhood. Camcorder footage stamped 1982 and 1990 shows a small boy in a tiny version of the same corduroy jacket, lying on the living room carpet, circling toys in the Argos catalogue. Each catalogue prop matches the year of the memory.
Asked what happened to that boy, Ayoade answers, “Life and despair.” The ghosts give him the brief. “You never got past the toy section, pal. Now there’s so much more.”
What Argos Wants Shoppers to Remember
The room fills with floating products, including headphones, a games console, a hair styler and a light therapy mask. Ayoade picks the mask for his mother. “Nothing says Christmas like advanced skincare technology,” he says. She loves it.
In the final scene, a changed Ayoade throws open his window onto a snowy street where an Argos van is making a delivery. “You there, person. There is more to Argos,” he shouts.
The film tackles a perception problem. “People know us incredibly well, but they don’t necessarily know the full breadth of what we offer today,” Argos said. T&P creative director Matt Deacon told LBB that “it takes about 30 seconds before someone is mentioning circling stuff in the catalogue.”
Christmas Past Next to Christmas Present
The outdoor campaign uses split posters, with “Christmas Past” on the left and “Christmas Present” on the right. A Game Boy Colour sits beside a Nintendo Switch 2. A Mr Frosty sits beside a Ninja slush machine, and a Barbie styling head sits beside a Dyson hair styler. Famous Campaigns also reports a child with a portable CD player paired with Beats headphones. The posters bring back the old Argos logo.
The pairings speak to adults who once circled gifts in the catalogue and now buy presents for other adults. The gift has grown up, and Argos wants shoppers to know it has too.
The Team Behind the Haunting
T&P created the campaign, and Declan Lowney of Merman directed the one-minute film. It launched on November 1 across TV, streaming, cinema, social and outdoor. It extends the “There’s More to Argos” platform, which began in 2023, and brings back Connie and Trevor, who starred with Simon Bird in last year’s Christmas ad.
“I enjoyed the whole experience much more than I care to admit,” Ayoade said. Laura Boothby, head of campaigns at Argos, said the retailer “would never really do a tearjerker campaign.”
For a generation of British shoppers, the Argos catalogue was the first Christmas wish list. Argos is now asking them to open it again and look past the toy pages.
Campaign Name: Tales of Argos Past (“There’s More to Argos”)
Agency Name: T&P
Brand Name: Argos
Location: United Kingdom
