WAITROSE & PARTNERS | Sweet Suspicion: A Deliciously Festive Whodunnit | 2025
The Night the Dessert Disappeared, All of Britain Became Detectives / WAITROSE & PARTNERS "Sweet Suspicion"
The star dessert at Christmas dinner has vanished. Every member of the family is a suspect. With Succession's Matthew Macfadyen and Fleabag's Sian Clifford in the cast — an unlikely lineup for a supermarket ad — Waitrose pulled off a surprising two-part mystery.
The problem
Christmas ad season runs long, and campaigns often lose steam partway through. Waitrose was also outspent by its competitors on ad budget, and viewers had been saying things like "it's the same thing every year, kind of boring."
The insight
The Christmas dinner table can feel as tense as a detective drama. As the CMO put it, "the time when families come together is just as high-pressure as a hunt for a culprit." And Waitrose's own personality — serious about food, but never too serious about itself — turned out to fit perfectly with the mystery format.
The idea
The 90-second film opens with the family discovering the dessert is gone. The first episode ends on a cliffhanger, with the culprit revealed three weeks later in episode two. In between, "confession-style" videos from all the suspects were released on social media, store staff wore T-shirts naming who they thought did it, and outdoor ads styled like evidence boards popped up around town.
What happened
In the public vote, the cat, Fig, topped the suspect list with 18%, while the actual culprit, Steve, was suspected by only 8%. The first episode alone drew more than 150 million views, making this Waitrose's biggest Christmas campaign ever.
Afterthought
I don't think I've ever felt genuinely eager for "the next episode" of a supermarket ad before. The CCO said the whole country was devouring this mystery every day, and honestly, I get it. Now I really want some dessert.
Awards
- Cannes Lions Gold 2025
