This year’s Argos Christmas ad is, for the first time ever, giving children the opportunity to appear in the ad along with the retailer’s troupe of elves helping Santa.

From 7 November, parents can submit an image of their child to Argos’s Facebook and Twitter channels with the hashtag #ReadyForTakeOff. Three winners will be selected to appear on the TV advert for an entire day on the 10, 11, and 12 November.

On top of that, every parent that posts a picture will get a chance to see their child’s face in a personalised social media version of the advert.

The 60-second TV spot itself, created by CHI&Partners and directed by Gary Freedman, takes viewers into a ‘magical’ Argos distribution centre where a group of elves are helping Santa to deliver gifts across the country on red rocket-powered ‘super-sleighs’. The ad centres around one child’s long-awaited Christmas gift, and the efforts of an elf to make sure he gets that present in time for Christmas.

“The go-getting elf in the story reflects our hard-working and dedicated colleagues who often go the extra mile to make Christmas happen for our customers,” said Gary Kibble, marketing director at Argos.

“We hope our super-swift, stop-at-nothing Argos Christmas elves help us once again to break the traditional retailer advertising mould by adding some excitement, energy and above all speed to the nation’s Christmases this year.”

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