DAWN French gives a motorway tailback a tinsel-tastic sprinkling of magic in the new M&S Food Christmas advert – alongside a very special famous face.
The full 90-second video has been shared exclusively with Sun readers to give you an early look at the high-street stalwart’s festive offering this year.
Marks & Spencer called upon Chris Rea and his 1988 classic track Driving Home For Christmas to soundtrack the ad, which sees Dawn and her Fairy caricature stuck in gridlock traffic.
But joy is afoot after mid-meltdown Dawn, 68, spots a Marks & Spencer food lorry in front of her, with Fairy dashing off to crack open the doors.
Unable to control herself around their festive fare, she goes full Tom Cruise and speeds down the central reservation and slides down the front of a car – with a minor mishap at the end – to get to the truck.
And luckily for the other road-weary drivers on the same stretch of road, Fairy tells Dawn to open the doors for a party, rather than scoffing the spread herself.
Central to this year’s Christmas food haul is celebrity chef Tom Kerridge, who has joined forces with Marks & Spencer to craft some special food – including a Pork & Mushroom Pâté.
Tom, 52, makes a special cameo in the ad himself and is seen leaning out of his snow covered car with a pair of binoculars before announcing: “The world’s gone mad.”
Included in their spread this year are dishes like handmade Paella Bites with black tiger prawns and a smoky tomato sauce as well as Crispy Fish, Chip and Pea Bites, hand-battered and served with a pea and mint crush.
Dawn told us: “Nothing kicks off the festive season more than the drive home for Christmas.
This year, my chum Fairy is waving her wand to deliver a truck-load of festive joy to the usual grid-locked Christmas traffic jam, as we feast on the must-have party food of the season, from Tom Kerridge‘s Pork & Mushroom Pâté to Fish, Chip & Pea Bites… with chips in the salt and vinegar batter.
“Yum yum, in my sizable tum.”
Chris, whose song Driving Home For Christmas peaked at No10 in the charts following its release in the late Eighties, added: “It’s a wonderful thing to see Driving Home for Christmas still connecting with people all these years later.
“I first wrote it back in the mid Eighties about the simple joy of getting back to the people you love, and that spirit fits perfectly with Christmas and with what Marks & Spencer does so well.”
Dawn first joined forces with Marks & Spencer to voice Fairy for the Christmas adverts back in 2021.
She made her first on screen appearance in their festive commercial last year.
