Christmas TV ads have become a festive feature as familiar as mistletoe and mince pies. Big stores and brands spend huge sums appealing to our need for more stuff to consume. But if you think it’s tough coming up with new gift ideas for your loved ones year after year, just imagine the pressure of spending a big pile of a company’s budget finding a new way to persuade people to buy things.

Advertising expert Carl Jones has watched this year’s crop of ads and explains some of the tactics they use to pull on our heart strings and help us part with our money.

If you’re doing all you can to avoid the Christmas celebrations and would rather be on another planet in December, you may be heartened by news that human settlements on Mars are not as far off as you might think. And the government’s “gift” of a 2.8% pay rise for teachers in England may do little for the significant recruitment and retention pressures facing the profession.

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