Friday 7 November 2025: PR & Marketing News Round-Up: Christmas Ads Critiqued, Palace x Nike, VIP Festive Shopping, Wicked Merch & BrewDog’s Self-Spoof
Team Visible is back with this week’s Friday PR & Marketing News Round-Up, and it’s that time of year where Christmas begins to take over! From the first festive ads of the season to culture-driven collabs and cheeky brand self-spoofs, this week’s stories highlight brands that know how to own culture, and keep the nation talking.
Read on for Visible PR’s top picks of the week from across the industry…
Christmas Ads 2025: Early Rankings & First Impressions
Early roundups of the 2025 Christmas ads from the likes of Coca-Cola, John Lewis, Sainsbury’s, Boots and others really are a mixed bag. We enjoyed The Standard’s ranking of the festive season’s major players, exploring the emotional highs and lows, creativity and cultural resonance of the year’s most talked about ads.
Why it matters for PR & Marketing: Christmas advertising will always be a high-stake cultural moment. Early reception for brands shapes media narratives and social conversation across the season of goodwill. Those that pair emotional storytelling with timely distribution also gain both press and search momentum heading into the peak shopping season.
Palace x Nike: A London Collab with Manor Place Activation
Skate label Palace has teamed up with Nike and has unveiled a new collaboration, with the campaign led by an experiential pop-up/activation at Manor Place, London. The drop fuses Palace’s street style with Nike performance heritage, turning retail into a cultural moment that celebrates community, design and limited-run desirability.
Why it matters for PR & Marketing: This is what happens when brand partnerships are done right. Experiential activations like Manor Place generate reams of earned media, social-first content and scarcity-driven demand, and is a reminder that the best collabs do more than sell products, they create a moment.
Wicked Movie Merch: From Stage to Shelves, Franchise Licensing Goes Big
With the second installment of the Wicked movie generating lots of buzz, studios and license partners are rolling out a ridiculous amount of fashion, beauty, home and collectible ranges to capitalise on the global fandom. With more than 60 collabs announced to date, fans can pick up unique Wicked themed items, like Stanley flasks, beauty and fragrance lines from leading lady Ariana Grande, Build-a-Bear outfits inspired by the witches of Oz, and even pink and green Le Creuset saucepans! This catalogue of collabs takes movie merchandising to a whole new level!
Why it matters for PR & Marketing: Franchise merchandising turns emotional fandom into sales and creates multiple PR touchpoints like unboxings, influencer tie-ins and retail pop-ups. For marketers, aligning product launches with media moments amplifies visibility and offers long tail revenue and content opportunities.
John Lewis Launches Premium Shopper Lounge with Fizz, Food & Massages
Just in time for the Christmas shopping season, John Lewis on Oxford Street has launched a ‘Member Lounge’ where shoppers can escape the busy shops for a glass of fizz and a massage - taking retail therapy far more literally! In a bold move designed to drive footfall, boost dwell time and increase average basket values in an increasingly competitive retail landscape, it will certainly be popular amid the gift buying season.
Why it matters for PR & Marketing: Value-added perks are becoming a key retention tool for bricks-and-mortar retail. This ‘exclusive’ benefit to its members sees John Lewis rewarding loyalty, and elevating the in-store experience. For PR, it delivers feel good stories around the festive season, giving marketers new hooks for press and social content.
BrewDog Spoofs Its Own Scandals in New Campaign
BrewDog has launched a cheeky campaign that lampoons its past controversies in a self-aware creative move that reframes the narrative with humour and ownership. The campaign has split opinion amongst the industry, but undeniably reignites many conversations around the brand - good and bad.
Why it matters for PR & Marketing: Self-parody is a risky but potentially rewarding tactic. By owning past mistakes with humour, brands can humanise themselves more and take control of the narrative. The campaign underscores how authenticity, tone-of-voice and timing are key, and we’ll leave it up to you to decide if it’s a clever move, or really just a bit tone-deaf.
Final Thoughts
This week reinforces one thing: authenticity is key, and cultural relevance is created at the intersection of product, placement and personality. Whether it’s Palace x Nike turning retail into a cultural stage, stores using perks to rethink loyalty, or this year’s big budget Christmas Ads tapping into emotional attention, the brands that come out on top are those who push the moments worth sharing.
Is it time to take your PR & comms to new heights? Get in touch with the Visible PR team today at hello@visiblepr.co.uk