Keira Knightly and Joe Wilkinson Return For Waitrose' Christmas Sequel

The latest campaign for the retailer has once again been created by Wonderhood Studios

By Creative Salon

10 November 2026

Love is in the air again at Waitrose, as Keira Knightley and Joe Wilkinson return for The Perfect Gift 2, a festive romcom packed with romance, rivalry and a generous helping of Christmas chaos. The six-minute film raises the bar for festive brand storytelling yet again, with the latest installment officially the longest ad ever created by a UK supermarket.

Building on the positive response to last year’s campaign, The Perfect Gift 2 delivers Waitrose’s ‘Home of food lovers’ positioning, reinforcing its reputation as the ultimate food and drink destination for shoppers who are looking for high-quality ingredients, outstanding taste and a wide range of inspiring products and recipe ideas.

The six minute spectacular is part of a 360-degree Christmas campaign, with Omnicom Media agency, MG OMD, leading the media strategy, planning and buying to deliver a connected, full-funnel approach designed to build awareness, deepen engagement and bring the brand experience into customers’ everyday lives. Across paid, owned and earned channels, the campaign adopts the same tactics as marketing a movie, utilising long-form entertainment, trailers, cinema, radio, social content, OOH and retail touchpoints to extend the story and showcase Waitrose’s festive food credentials.

Knightley reprises her role as herself, alongside Wilkinson as Phil ‘Phil Phil’, the lovelorn everyman who won her heart last Christmas. This time, however, there’s a new rival in the picture: Hugo Bunty-Griffin, played by Alex Hassell, a suave groom-to-be with charm to spare.

With Keira seemingly destined for a life with Hugo, Phil is left heartbroken and in need of a grand gesture. Enter his best friends, a selection of Waitrose ingredients and a plan to win her back with a homemade beef Wellington. What follows is a festive race against the clock, with a few twists, a troublesome dog and one very pointed jar of sauce labelled “Marry Me Instead?”

More than a festive love story, The Perfect Gift 2 puts food at the heart of the action, showing how it can bring people together and help express what words sometimes can't. From the No.1 Handmade Polar Bear Bao Buns to the beef Wellington at the centre of Phil’s grand gesture, Waitrose’s festive range sits at the heart of a story about love, generosity and connection - reinforcing the role of food in life’s most meaningful moments.

Nathan Ansell, Waitrose Chief Customer Officer said: "Building on the overwhelming customer demand and huge success of last year’s campaign, The Perfect Gift 2 represents a strategic evolution of our festive narrative, designed to drive deeper brand engagement and reinforce our Home of Food Lovers positioning. Last year demonstrated that emotional, entertainment-first storytelling effectively cuts through the festive noise, builds strong brand affinity, and creates genuine cultural momentum. With this ambitious sequel, our goal is to build on that connection, bring our story full circle, and give audiences a compelling reason to return.

We significantly raised the creative and production stakes by extending the mini-film by two minutes, making it an ambitious six-minute cinematic romcom - the longest ad produced by a UK supermarket - while keeping our exceptional food credentials firmly at the narrative core. By leaning into the high-stakes romance, humor, and theatrical charm of classic big-screen sequels, The Perfect Gift 2 delivers a high-impact, 360-degree campaign aimed at driving both emotional brand love and strong commercial momentum across all paid, owned, and earned channels."

Directed once again by Molly Manners, through Biscuit Filmworks, the film gives Phil’s increasingly desperate mission the full Hollywood treatment. Snow-dusted stately home, sweeping tracking shots and an original score recorded by the world renowned Prague Philharmonic Orchestra give the story cinematic ambition, while keeping the focus firmly on the food and the emotions that surround it.

Wonderhood Creatives Jennifer Ashton and Oli Short created the campaign, and the partnership with Keira Knightley, Joe Wilkinson and Alex Hassell was orchestrated by Anne Batz and her team at Talent Republic.

The 60” and 30” trailers are narrated by Gary Martin, best known as the voice of the Honey Monster, the film closes with Jennifer Rush’s ‘The Power of Love’, reinforcing its central message: sometimes the best way to tell someone you love how you feel is through food.

Molly Manners, Director, said: “It’s been an absolute joy to extend the Waitrose cinematic universe and whole heartedly embrace the Rom and the Com this year. I love this team and this cast and am so excited to see the curveball of Alex Hassell as Phil’s love rival unleashed.”

Jack Croft and Stacey Bird, Executive Creative Directors, Wonderhood Studios, said: “It’s been wonderful to return to our festive romcom this year. We always felt that Keira and Phil’s love story had more to give, and we hope the love, time and craft we’ve poured into this sequel has made it every bit as entertaining as the first film, if not more.

And that’s really what this campaign is all about: giving audiences more. More story, more surprises, more laughs, more stunts, more extra content and, thankfully, more pastry.”

Gerry Ridgway, Chief Client Development Officer, MG OMD said “Following last year’s runaway success, we’ve given the sequel the blockbuster treatment - launching with the cinematic scale, spectacle and ubiquity of a major film release through a multi-channel campaign tailored to our food lover audience – cementing Waitrose as the Home of Food Lovers and the destination for Christmas food and drink”

The six-minute film sits at the heart of a wider campaign spanning paid, owned and earned activity, with shorter creative executions giving audiences more ways to discover the story and its cast.

The campaign will run across TV, Video on Demand and Cinema, supported by OOH, Audio, Social, Online, PR and in-store activity. Waitrose’s owned channels, including YouTube and Waitrose.com, will host the full film, while shorter 60-second and 30-second movie-style trailers offer additional ways for audiences to discover the story. Romcom-inspired movie posters extend the campaign’s cinematic look and feel beyond the screen.

Alongside the festive short will sit a series of playful product ads that act as independent romcoms. They see the cast fall in love at first sight at the irresistible delights of Waitrose’s festive range including No.1 Ham & Cheese Croissant Stacks, No.1 Slow Cooked Double Butter Basted Free Range Turkey Crown, No.1 Frosted Raspberry, No.1 Pistachio & Sour Cherry Frangipane Mince Pies and Rick Stein with Waitrose Signature Cure Cornish Sea Salt Smoked Salmon.

Further building on Waitrose’s ambition to behave more like a food entertainment brand, the film’s launch will be supported by a press junket, alongside BTS content featuring the talent, bloopers, cooking content with @whatwillycook and a partnership with Meet Cutes London. Together with the long-form film, short-form creative and product-led advertising, these additional touchpoints create multiple opportunities for audiences to engage with Waitrose throughout the Christmas period, connecting the entertainment and emotional appeal of the story with the quality and breadth of its festive food range.

The film premieres on Waitrose’s owned channels, including YouTube, at 06:30 on 10 November. Two shorter, 60-second and 30-second movie-style trailers tease the twists and turns, while romcom-inspired movie posters extend the cinematic world beyond the screen.

Credits:

Waitrose

Chief Customer Officer: Nathan Ansell

Head of Advertising & Social: Sarah Hood

Advertising Lead: Joanne Massey

Senior Advertising Manager: Alia Ahmad

Advertising Manager: Vinay Patel

Senior Campaign Manager: James Ward

Senior Social Media Manager: Emily Angliss

Social Media Manager: Chloe Ball

Creative Direction Lead: James Turner

Art Direction & Image Lead: James Davies

MG OMD

CEO: Kat Bozicevich
Managing Director: David Bratt
Chief Creative Officer: Tamara Cross

Chief Client Development Officer: Geraldine Ridgway

Client Partner: Lewis Young

Client Business Director: Jane Ridehalgh

Client Account Director: Megan Cupples

Client Account Manager: Tom Warren

Client Account Executive: Izzy Cherry

Head of Planning: Flora Williams

Strategy Business Director: Helen Brain

Head of Media Creativity: Will Selwyn

Partnerships Business Director: Maddie Taylor Wilson

Partnerships Account Director: Polly Savva

Wonderhood Studios

Founder & CEO: Alex Best

Founder & CCO: Aidan McClure

Managing Director: Sam Brown

Head of Integrated Production: Natasha Johnson

Executive Creative Director: Stacey Bird

Executive Creative Director: Jack Croft

Strategy Director: Charlotte O’Brien

Strategist: Kit Thwaites

Senior Creative & Writer: Jennifer Ashton

Senior Creative & Writer: Oliver Short

Creative - Product: Coel James

Creative - Product: Chiara Piccirillo

Lead Senior Producer: James Plaxton

Senior Producer: Georgia Totvanian

Senior Producer - Product Stills: Chris Battye

Assistant Producer: Pericles Brierley

Business Director: Tom Butler

Account Director: Tara Lidstone

Senior Account Manager: Minna Griffiths

Senior Account Manager - Product Stills: James Tasker

Account Manager: Hannah Chinyemba

Wonderhood Makers

Co-founder & EP: Jo Lumb

Co-founder & Managing Partner: Katie Hunter

Senior Account Director: George Alleston

Account Manager: Katie Luton

Creative Director: Mandy Gould

Senior Social Creative: Ella Banks

Producer: Jake Parker

Editor: Ben Infantion and Will Meighan

Wonderhood Design

Head of Design: Simon Elvins

Design Director: Tommy Spitters

Designers - Brand: Ed Garland, Brianna Bartlett, Nancy Phillip, Joe Chakravorty, Lucja Wroblewska, Emma Gray

Designers - Product: Lucja Wroblewska, Emma Gray

Motion Designer: Tom Pounder

Photography

Brand Photographer: Charlotte Rutherford

Product Photographer: Matt Russell

Full Production Credits:

Production Company & Country: Biscuit Filmworks, UK

Director: Molly Manners

Producer: Peter Knowles

Founding Partner: Shawn Lacy

Managing Director: Rupert Reynolds-MacLean

Executive Producer: Hanna Bayatti

Head of Production: Emily Atterton

Production Manager: Ada Almeida

Production Coordinator: Jess Glaus

Production Assistant: Hannah Lockwood

Production Assistant: Nessie Appleton-Smith

1st AD: Rawdon De Fresnes
Director of Photography: Benedict Spence

Production Designer: Fiona Crombie

Casting Director: Hannah Birkett

Food Stylist: Fergal Connolly

1st Ad: Rawdon De Fresnes

2nd Ad: Isusko Garcia

1st Ac: Jim Mclean

2nd Ac: Evangeline Perkins

Key Grip: Jake Lavan

Gaffer: Greg Probert

Food Stylist: Fergal Connolly

Stylist: Emma Rees

Stylist Assistant: Naomi Golding

Hair And Make Up Artist: Eve Coles

Hair And Make Up Artist Assistant; Ashleigh Haines

Socials

Socials Director: James Murray

Socials Producer: Dalia Saeed

Socials Production Assistant: Hannah Lockwood

Socials 1ST AD: Spencer Wilson

Socials DOP: Dylan Bruce

Socials 1st AC: Justin Mcgillivray

Socials 2nd AC: Tim Pakyar

Socials Electrician: Jay Tesfamarieam

Socials Electrician: Stan Garbett

Socials Art Director: Katren Wood

Socials Props Assistant: Coco Cardozo

Socials Costume Designer: Gabrielle Edmunds and Amy Laverack

Socials Hair And Make Up Artist: Courtney Reece-Scott

Socials Casting Director: Hannah Birkett

Socials Food Stylist: Fergal Connolly

Socials Food Stylist’s Assistant: Sophie Sibbald

Socials Runner: Guy Lewis

Stills

Stills Producer: Dalia Saeed

Stills Photographer: Charlotte Rutherford

Stills Movement Director: Simon Donnellon

Stills Lighting Director: John Neate

Stills Assistant: Bradley Polkinghorne and Jed Barnes

Stills Digi Op: Alex Gale

Stills Art Director: Katren Wood

Socials Props Master: Louis Glickman

Stills Props Assistant: Coco Cardozo

Stills Food Stylist: Fergal Connolly

Stills Food Stylist’s Assistant: Sophie Sibbald

Stills Runner: Guy Lewis

Glam Team:

Keira Knightley:

Stylist: Leith Clark

Stylist Assistant: Florence Thompson, Tilly Wheating

Seamstress: Serafina Kruegel-Hanna

Makeup: Lisa Eldridge

Makeup Assistant: Nilofar Mussa

Manicurist: Sabrina Gayle

Hair Stylist: Luke Hersheson

Hair Assistant: Rogerio da Silva

Joe Wilkinson & Alex Hassell:

Groomer: Sam Coughlan

Costume Designer: Emma Rees

Hero Casting: Talent Republic

CEO & Founder: Anne Batz

Business Director: Disha B.B

Talent Partnerships Lead: Emily Curtis

Editing Company: Shift Post

Editor – Brand Film: Saam Hodivala

Editor – Product Films: Adam Buckmaster

Editor - Social: Robert McGuire

Executive Producer: Kirsty Oldfield

Assistant Producer: Tallia Clarke

Assistant Editor: Stanley Whitaker / Christina Hill

Post Studio: Time Based Arts

Creative Director & VFX Supervisor: Sheldon Gardner

2D Lead: Ollie Ramsey

2D Artists: Hannah Wilk, Chris Fraser, Javier Leon, Elliot Donovan, Ria Shroff, Anthony Laranjo, Jasmine Cooper, Ralph Briscoe, Gavin Marler, Jamie Crofts, James Pratt, Pavel Rehak, Nithin Francis, Simon Melin, Stepan Pazderka

3D Artists: Ihor Obukhovskyi, Jake Thompson, Ashley West, Ian Baird

DMP artists: Billy Stockwell, Barbara Pozzi

Colourist: Simone Grattarola

Socials Colourist: Tom Matthews

Senior Producer: Matt Squires

Producer: Mia Saunders

Audio Post-Production: Runamok

Sound Design & Mix: Jon Clarke

Socials Sound Design & Mix: Harry Butcher & Jonny Platt

Executive Producer: Caroline Jemirifo

Managing Director: Lucy Spong

Music (Sync track ): Native