James Norton’s Santa shaves off his beard and goes undercover in the 2026 M&S Christmas ad, “The Home of Christmas,” which Marks & Spencer released on its social channels at 7 a.m. U.K. time Friday, Nov. 6.
“It’s not every day you get asked to play Santa, let alone a Santa who immediately shaves off his beard!” Norton, 41, said in the retailer’s announcement.
The shave sets up a shirtless scene, and The Independent’s Annabel Nugent wrote of “a very handsome, very muscular Santa as portrayed by a topless James Norton.”
Men’s Health UK went with “shredded Santa,” according to The Guardian, which pointed to “a lingering shot of Norton with his top off.”
(Gayety’s list of the hottest Santas on screen may need an update.)
Inside the James Norton M&S Christmas Ad From Shannon Murphy
“I loved that Mrs Claus is the one who gets this story moving,” Lucy Punch said in the M&S release.
Her Mrs. Claus nudges Santa off the North Pole and into a Christmas jumper, and he loses the beard so nobody recognizes him, according to M&S.
“They say it takes years off,” Punch says in the ad, and Norton’s Santa says, “And now no one is going to recognise me,” the Evening Standard reported.
Lit up by an M&S window display, he asks, “Who’s Mark and who’s Spencer?” according to The Independent.
Shannon Murphy, whose credits include “Killing Eve” and “Babyteeth,” directed the ad for the agency Mother, with Smuggler producing.
“I trusted that Shannon would deliver on the tone,” Norton said, according to The Guardian, which reported that he’s a “huge fan” of hers.
The full ad got its TV debut on ITV1 during “This Morning” at 10:15 a.m. Friday, M&S said.
“It’s warm, funny and full of Christmas spirit, and I’m very happy to have been briefly trusted with the red suit,” Norton said in the release.
M&S vs. John Lewis in the 2026 Christmas Ad Race
“Customers don’t think about Christmas as one meal, one gift or one outfit,” said Sharry Cramond, M&S’s marketing director for fashion, home and beauty.
This year M&S rolled every category into a single campaign, something it hadn’t done since 2017, The Guardian’s Chloe Mac Donnell reported.
A year ago, Cramond’s team tried a string of mini films instead, and she said then, “We realised that we were considering Christmas shopping missions too holistically.”
M&S’s 2025 food ad starred Dawn French stuck in traffic to Chris Rea’s “Driving Home for Christmas,” The Independent reported at the time.
Campaign magazine’s Gurjit Degun called this year’s ad “playful and tongue in cheek without being silly,” Mac Donnell wrote.
John Lewis went first on Nov. 3 with “Gloria and Pickles,” its 20th Christmas ad, according to the John Lewis Partnership.
“Bringing in the sparkle of Dame Kristin Scott Thomas and Sam Fender has helped bring this story to life beautifully,” said Rosie Hanley, John Lewis’ marketing and loyalty director.
Critics knocked its sprawling house and ungrateful grandchildren as out of step with the national mood, The Guardian noted.
Jonathan De Mello, founder of the consultancy JDM Retail, called John Lewis’ strategy smart in the same story. “They are targeting a group that is fairly affluent,” he said, though he warned that the approach could “alienate the mass market.”
“I don’t want any more Christmas tearjerkers,” Punch said, according to The Guardian. “I want fun and joy. Life is enough of a tearjerker, it’s fun to have something festive with a bit of a wink.”
M&S is still climbing back from a 2025 cyberattack that shut its website for more than six weeks and cost it over £100 million, The Guardian reported.
“For generations, M&S has been privileged to play a part in those celebrations, helping customers create a Christmas that feels uniquely their own,” said Andrew Hicks, M&S’s food marketing director.
M&S said Nov. 4 that its adjusted profit before tax more than doubled, to £403.2 million from £184.1 million, in the half-year to Sept. 26, Retail Insight Network reported.
“We are ready to deliver an unforgettable Christmas for our customers,” CEO Stuart Machin said.
Katherine Jenkins Sings ‘Heaven Is a Place on Earth’
Jenkins recorded the soundtrack, a new take on Belinda Carlisle’s 1987 hit “Heaven Is a Place on Earth,” and she appears in the ad as a singer at a fete, Official Charts reported.
“For me, Christmas has always been about coming home,” Jenkins said in the M&S release. “It’s about family, traditions and creating memories with the people you love most, and music is such a big part of that.”
“I love how beautifully it complements the story, reminding us that the real magic of Christmas isn’t found in grand gestures, but in the moments we share together at home,” Jenkins said of her recording.
On Friday, she gave travelers at London’s St Pancras International a surprise performance of it in front of an 11-meter Christmas tree, the Evening Standard reported.
