The new Tesco ‘Gluten Free Christmas’ advert

Oh no! Not the Latimers!

But these aren’t just any old Latimers, these are the gluten free Latimers and they’re popping by!

(Just had to get an M&S ‘not just’ reference into a Tesco blog)

Clearly this is a real emergency! Someone who is gluten free is visiting! Panic stations.

If you haven’t yet seen the new Tesco ‘Gluten Free Christmas’ advert you can watch it here.

There’s no time to explain now, we need gluten free everything. Go! Goooooooo!!!!!

And despite my love/hate relationship with Tesco (long story) I have to admit, their Gluten Free Mince pies are amazing!

Thank you Julia for buying these for me and Debbie. They are massive mince pies, deep filled and we ate two each! They are also nut free, dairy free and soya free. Not many freefrom mince pies can make all these claims AND taste that great.

But do you really need a whole shopping trolley full of food for a couple who are just ‘popping by’?

How much do the Latimers eat?

Why do I love this advert? But also hate it a little bit…

I do really like this advert. I love Ruth Jones who plays the Mum and they do manage to get some humour into what can be an awkward and confusing subject, without being too offensive.

My highlights in the advert all come from the rather dippy son, who asks the questions some people might like to ask…

What is a gluten free?

We’d all like to know that. Not always obvious. Very rare and not easily recognisable from their markings. They are quite shy, tend to hide and avoid too much attention. Usually you will only find one ‘gluten free’ in a pack. They hang out with normal people! Just imagine that! Can often been seen nibbling oat cakes, smuggled biscuits or cakes from their handbags. If you do spot a ‘gluten free’ be nice! But approach with caution if you’re going to make any jokes about the cardboard taste of their gluten free food!

Are you gluten free?

This was asked of a member of staff who just looked quite bemused, though I doubt he would have actually been able to buy a member of staff to take to the party. For the record I certainly am a gluten free. But then I do contain barley and rye. So actually, technically I’m not truly ‘a gluten free’ but I am wheat free. No wonder it’s so confusing.

I got a light bulb, also gluten free.

Yes light bulbs are indeed gluten free as are many products you can buy in a supermarket. There is still a lot of confusion around what gluten free really means but Tesco have worked really hard on their freefrom range.

Is this really a realistic scenario?

It does feel a bit like the ‘gluten free Latimers’ is kind of insincere. This isn’t a lifestyle choice many of us are making. People with coeliac disease and allergies have to avoid gluten and/or wheat or they’ll be very ill or worse!

By making this plural and referring to the Latimers and not just Bill or Jane you are left with an image of a fussy couple who have ‘gone gluten free’ as a lifestyle choice. I know a lot of coeliacs but they usually have partners who are not coeliac. It’s unusual to find a pair of them!

The other annoying thing about the whole advert is that they just cram a load of processed food into their trolley and the only things that were not from the freefrom shelves were the turkey and the light bulb. I do get that they want to advertise the sheer volume of amazing freefrom food that they sell but no one who is not gluten free is ever going to clear the freefrom shelves like this just for the imminent visit of one couple.

EVEN if it is the GLUTEN FREE LATIMERS!

Are they?

Really?

Do people really talk about me like that? Do they say, Ruth is coming round. You know, the dairy, wheat, nut, soya, celery, tomato free Ruth and she’s popping by!

Argh! Panic stations. It’s an emergency!

Get down Tesco’s quick and it’ll take the whole family for this one!

They don’t buy anything fresh at all. This is a big bug bear of mine because there are literally thousands of foods that are naturally gluten free. Man cannot survive on processed freefrom alone so buy some more fresh food and fruit please!

I am probably just being picky, but if they were coming to a party I could maybe see this scenario working, because a lot of freefrom stuff is good enough for everyone these days. I do hope they aren’t going to waste any of this freefrom food! If they don’t need it all they could always donate it to their local food bank.

Spare a thought for those with allergies who are struggling to make ends meet during the festive season. FreeFrom can be expensive so if you donate to the foodbank, don’t ignore the freefrom aisle. You could really make coeliacs’s Christmas!

I haven’t been into the store to check exactly what they have on offer but those mince pies were delicious. If you’re coeliac or avoid gluten, try them.

And if the Latimers are popping by they would probably be content with just a cuppa and a mince pie, or two…

Tesco does indeed have your whole gluten free Christmas covered!

What do you think of this advert? and also Tesco’s range of Christmas freefrom goodies?