Now it's Boots' turn! Heart-melting festive ad from the high street giant offers a glamorous makeover to women who work on Christmas Day (and Kylie sings the theme tune)

  • Battle of festive ads has begun in earnest...with Boots the latest to unleash
  • High street giant's ad makes over women who work on Christmas day
  • Paramedics, firefighters and nurses transform into glamorous party-goers in feel-good ad
  • Stores who can crack the festive ad can expect huge returns in profit  

By Jo Tweedy For Mailonline

Published: 15:18 EST, 7 November 2016 | Updated: 15:27 EST, 7 November 2016

'Tis the season for adverts that will leave you feeling warm and fuzzy - and high street giant Boots's offering is certainly no exception.

While the nation awaits this year's yuletide offering from John Lewis, the undisputed champion of Christmas ads (with vast budgets), Boots is appealing to the nation's heartstrings with its 2016 ad. 

With pop icon Kylie singing is the background, the short clip focuses on paramedics, firefighters and other essential staff who don't clock off on Christmas day.  

The ad tells viewers that some 500,000 women in the UK work on Christmas Day and chooses a select few to reward with a glamorous festive makeover. 

The women featured are transformed from their uniforms to seasonal sirens before being reunited with friends and lovers. 

The hotly contested prize for the best Christmas ad has been thrown a curveball already this year. 

A-level student created his own John Lewis Christmas ad - and promptly watched it go viral. 

Lashings of the feel-good factor! Boots launches its Christmas ad today with members of the emergency services receiving a makeover courtesy of the high street store

After the makeover, the women are greeted by their friends and family, who look equally spruced up 

Will Boots real lives themed ad do the trick with viewers? Or are we simply a sucker for John Lewis' big-budget animation?

Nick Jablonka watched his 75-second clip rack up hundreds of thousands of views after posting it under the heading: The Snowglobe John Lewis Christmas advert.  

Nick's film starts with a lonely snowman stuck in a snow globe who spots a fellow person made of snow outside the window.

Their eyes meet and he starts dreaming of going out to see them and pressing their hands made from branches together. 

The ad sees some of the half a million women who work on Christmas Day every year transformed in a mass makeover

'We care about our patients': A nurse explains why she works on Christmas Day

The high street chain, over 160 years old, is hoping to warm the cockles of shoppers hearts this yuletide

As the calendar counts down to Christmas he becomes more and more despondent because he can't escape his snow globe. 

But then he reminds himself to 'appreciate the moments' he feels so happy thinking about, and finds himself smiling again. 

Once viewers realised it wasn't the real deal, rather than being disappointed they heaped praise on Nick for his work. 

The video sees women from essential services getting the Hollywood makeover treatment 

Worth the investment: Stores can expect big profits at the tills if they can win over viewers

'Love it. Prefect for Christmas,' Hannah Quinnell commented. 'This should be the Christmas advert 2016.'

Cathryn Greenwood said John Lewis would be 'daft' not to offer Nick a job and Lisa Johnson agreed saying: 'This is beautiful. I hope the real ad is half as good.' 

The Christmas advert industry is worth the investment, with retailers happy to spend millions on their creations because they can almost guarantee a hefty profit in return. 

Nick's clip features a lonely snowman dreaming of exchanging presents with a fellow person made of snow who he can see through the window 

Last year's Man on the Moon advert for John Lewis saw Christmas sales boosted by 5.1% to nearly £1bn.

And this afternoon Twitter went into frenzy over a mystery clip featuring a sad Boxer dog watching a little girl bounce around on a space hopper. 

Viewers were convinced it was a preview of the John Lewis ad, which is set for release this week, and many admitted they were already in tears.  

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