Marks & Spencer Group, Once Upon A Christmas - Wip Master

The advert opens with a shot of a large, worn, leather bound book embossed with the words "Once Upon a Christmas."

A man's hand opens the book to reveal an illustration of a fairy waving her wand. As the book is opened, a pop-up scene of a vaulted kitchen appears.

In a reference to Cinderella, a forlorn looking Emma Bunton (Baby Spice from the Spice Girls) is wearing rags and sweeping the stone floor. A blinding flash of glitter and smoke transforms her rags into a sexy lace camisole, then with another puff of smoke, she appears dressed in an ultra white trouser suit with high heels and sparkling jewelery. The narrator says, "The sweet tempered girl who was worked to a frazzle was transformed by a gown for a night on the razzle."

The pages turn again to show a pop-up turreted room where the Evil Queen, Zoe Wanamaker, gazes into an ornate mirror. The voiceover says, "The cold-hearted queen asked, "Who's fairest of all?" "I am," said the mirror, "but I do love your shawl."

The third pop-up scene is Sleeping Beauty's bed chamber complete with a thick wall of thorns outside the window. The handsome young prince, played by Will Young (gay winner of Pop Idol), approaches to wake the sleeping princess. He picks up her hand to kiss it, but before he can, is distracted by the sumptuous red throw blanket covering her. The narrator's voice is heard: "Beating all rivals, a dashing young beau, came for the princess, but left with the throw," as Will grabs the red satin quilt and makes for the window.

In the final scene, the pop-up is a magical forest with a cottage nestling in the trees. June Sarpong as Red Riding Hood is sitting at a table laden with Christmas food and dressed in a red dress with matching velvet cloak. With the wolf hungrily looking on as she opens a bottle of champagne the voiceover cuts in with, "And down in the forest, a twist in the fable, the girl was no longer the tastiest dish at the table."

The camera then pulls back to reveal the narrator, Patrick Stewart, seated in an old leather chair in front of a roaring fire. "And all too soon I must bid you farewell, with magic and sparkle, this will be an enchanting noel."

M&S, although a very traditional, conservative company, has previously used outrageous, openly gay talk host Graham Norton in a commercial and now uses openly gay Will Young, though he rarely talks about it publicly. An M&S spokeswomen, Tania Littlehales, says the retailer realized it would be ridiculous for Will to kiss the princess, as that would not be acknowledging the fact that he is well known as gay, therefore they get him to run off with the throw instead.

Littlehales says that Young was not chosen for his sexuality, but as a celebrity who appeals broadly to all. In fact, the scene was specifically written for him as a modern twist on the traditional fairytale.

Littlehales adds that M&S recognizes it has gay consumers and wants to appeal to a contemporary audience, but not alienate the traditional values of long-standing clientele. With the campaign, the retailer is trying to shed its image of an old fashioned, fuddy-duddy conservative middle-class retailer who is not with the times.

In fact, M&S has a large social responsibility department and the company feels gay issues -- internally and externally -- are part of its work. Says Littlehales, "If we can do our bit to help discrimination against race and sexuality, then so be it."

When asked if they have ever thought of specifically targeting the gay consumer, Littlehales says, "We make clothes for people, whatever their sexuality, race or
culture. I don't know if we would specifically target. We just want to have a positive and responsible approach to our existing and future customers."

Littlehales also says the company has not done any specific research on gay consumers. "We don't want to be seen to be targeting individual groups, that's not what we are about, we just want to be inclusive of all."