A Scrooge-y banana stars in Aldi's holiday ad teaser

Aldi looks likely to be channeling "A Christmas Carol" in this year's U.K. holiday ad, after releasing a teaser featuring a banana character called "Ebanana Scrooge." A 20-second video from longtime agency McCann London, which has created the popular "Kevin the Carrot" holiday series for the discount retailer, debuted Saturday night on social media. It shows a baby banana patiently waiting for Santa, snuggled up next to a mince pie in front of a roaring log fire on Christmas Eve. A mystery hand then appears and takes the mince pie, leaving the banana behind, at which he cries, "Santa, wait! Why didn’t he take me?" before declaring "I hate Christmas!" While the teaser doesn't feature Kevin the Carrot, it's all done in the same style as the previous work (with direction by Psyop's Todd Mueller, Kylie Matulick and Kyle Cassidy) so it seems likely the beloved root vegetable with a face will appear at some point in the festive tale. (We're guessing he could play Bob Cratchit, a la Kermit the Frog in the Muppet version.) The video is running on Aldi's Twitter, Instagram and Facebook channels, and the full ad will be revealed next Thursday, Nov. 11. Kevin the Carrot first appeared in Aldi's advertising in 2016, and over the years he's escaped an evil parsnip, fallen in love in an Agatha Christie-style murder mystery, watched the John Lewis ad, parodied the Coca-Cola truck, appeared in a mashup of the "Greatest Showman" and "Peaky Blinders" and, in last year's ad, starred in a parody of "Top Gun." Scrooge has already appeared elsewhere this season, but in more fit form, in Peloton's holiday spot, backed by the brand's biggest ad spend to date.

A Scrooge-y banana stars in Aldi's holiday ad teaser

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