Asda will return to help town celebrate Christmas in style after festive advert shoot

The town hit headlines in 2016 when residents dubbed the Christmas tree in their market square the worst in the country for its "dead-looking" appearance.

But the new Asda advert, which was filmed in School Street in September, brought an extra-large dose of festive magic to the town, and the supermarket is now helping the local community to host a Christmas event in December as a thank-you to the local people.

The supermarket giant will be heading back to give out mince pies and hot chocolate, and will also be gifting giant Christmas decorations to add some festive magic to the much discussed Tyldesley town Christmas tree.

Eilidh Macaskill, Vice President Creative and Media at Asda, said: “Our team loved filming in Tyldesley and getting to know the local community. The residents were so welcoming to us and everyone really got into the festive spirit - despite it only being September when we filmed.”

Asda launched ‘Let’s make Christmas extra special’ campaign this week, which is centred around the people who go the extra mile to spread joy throughout the festive season and make it a special time for all.

The story behind this year’s campaign shows how a little act of generosity from a young girl, inspired by the stories from her Grandad, can snowball into something bigger, more exciting and altogether more magical.

Asda’s Chief Customer Officer Andy Murray explains: “We truly believe that with great quality products at leading price points; everybody can have an extra special Christmas with Asda.

“We know the most important thing to our customers at Christmas is spending time with family and friends. These are the people who make Christmas special and they’re willing to go the extra mile to make sure the occasion is truly magical.

“This generosity is reflected through our whole Christmas campaign this year, from the wonderful spirit of Tilly and Jack in our ad to a beautiful digital storybook of ‘Santa’s Leftover Magic’ that has been created in support of our Fight Hunger Create Change Initiative. We have also doubled donations from our Asda Foundation to over £1m to support good causes over the next three months. This investment will see 1500 charities across the country benefiting from additional funding this festive season.”

The Christmas ad opens with Tilly, an inquisitive young girl, walking home on a wintery night with her brother Jack. Arriving home, Tilly looks to the sky and spots the Northern Lights roaring with colours above her head. She has a twinkle in her eye, remembering something special her grandfather once told her about Santa’s leftover magic. She begins plotting a way to capture the magic from the sky, settling on a makeshift rod using her grandad’s walking stick with a glass jar on the end – much to her brother’s disbelief.

Tilly is successful in her mission to capture the magic and begins sharing its glow around her town with the help of Jack. To everyone’s delight, a grey village is miraculously turned into a winter wonderland. An ordinary man is transformed to a snowman, the local cat gets an fabulous new jumper, whilst people waiting at the bus stop turn in to gingerbread people and a beautifully decorated Christmas tree sprouts out of the ground – a series of Extra Special Christmas miracles!

Tilly is seen looking deflated as her jar of magic runs out. She has spread so much Christmas joy and excitement and just doesn’t want it to end. Feeling forlorn, she leaves Jack and takes herself up to bed. Her big brother has a brainwave and makes sure there is an extra special surprise for her when she wakes up the following morning.

To add even more excitement, the ad will be set to an upbeat orchestral performance of ‘Lighting up Christmas that reflects the joy of Christmas. The cheerful music, composed by Rohan Stevenson and James Radford, ties perfectly with the glee that Tilly and Jack helped to spread around their town.