The festive season is officially upon use with Argos, Iceland, Asda, John Lewis and co competing for the crown of 2019’s best Christmas advert.
For Agros, Christmas adverts haven’t exactly been a huge part of their business plan.
While the likes of John Lewis throw everything at their December TV slot – last year they were reported to chuck £5 million at Elton John for his appearance in their advert – Argos have never felt the need to knock their elbows into the mix of Christmas advert competition.
After all, Tesco, Iceland and Sainsbury’s have become key players in the advert industry given their success at different times across the past five years while Asda are already surprise contenders to win over the most fans with their emotional ‘Let’s Make Christmas pecial’ ad.
Argos have entered the game with a drummer named Omar Abidi at the centre of their advert. So, who is he? Why did he feature in the advert? And what sort of ranking can we give the three-minute dialogue?
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Christmas adverts are all about imagination, with most modern advert pulling on various heartstrings by capturing the imagination of children. Or, in this case, something slightly different, as the imagination of a proud dad is showcased in two minutes of drumming magic.
The dad, in this case Omar Abidi, first notices that his kid has circled a drum kit in the latest Argos catalogue. We’re not sure if kids actually do this any more but it’s a nice touch for the theme of the advert considering a lot of the older generation who are now parents would remember the annual Argos catalogue cut outs that would be sewn together to form a Christmas list.
In matching tartan pjamas and slippers, daddy smooth looses himself in the groove and stylishly drums out a throwback track as the kitchen slides away and transforms into a music stage.
Omar’s child creeps down the stairs in her sparkling unicorn pjamas and joins her dad at the centre stage as a second drum kit appears. The pair thrash out the rhythms with the type of skill you definitely shouldn’t expect your child to achieve if bought a drum kit this Christmas.
It’s not the most heart-felt advert but clever and stylish – a solid 8/10.
The song featured on Argos’ Christmas advert 2019
The song featured in Argos’ Christmas song is an iconic Simple Minds track called Don’t You (Forget About Me).
It hit the charts in 1985 and reached no.1 in billboards across the UK, USA, Canada and Netherlands. Watch the advert below!
Who is the drummer?
The drummer featured in the advert is musician Omar Abidi – he is not part of Simple Minds.
Omar is the drummer in British rock-band Fightstar, who formed 16 years ago in 2003. Unfortunately, the band’s initial fame was overshadowed by the fact that they are fronted by former Busted lead singer Charlie Simpson.
Fightstar’s music is a mix of metal, alternative rock and other genres with their highest-charting album peaking at number 20 on the UK Albums Chart. They broke up in 2010 before reforming four years later although issues have continued over the past five years with Charlie often linking up with former band Busted for tours.
Why Omar Abidi? Who is the little girl?
Omar has more to his CV than just drumming, with a foot in the hard-to-access Hollywood door. The musician/actor featured as ‘Chubby Aladdin’ during a brief scene in the 2019 Disney remake of Aladdin and has made several other appearances in TV adverts over the years.
The little girl who features in the advert is perhaps a bigger celebrity than even Omar with over 50,000 followers on Instagram.
Nine-year-old Nandi Bushell is the incredible drummer in the advert – and yes, that really is her drumming!
Nandi is a star on social media thanks to her drumming skills and even jammed with Lenny Kravitz in a social media video before one of his gigs.
Nandi also drummed along to Queen’s famous Bohemian Rhapsody song during a 2018 John Lewis advert and is tipped for a huge musical career. You can follow the Ipswich-born talent on Instagram under @nadi_bushell.
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