United Biscuits is launching its first ever TV campaign for McVitie’s Victoria assortment.

The ad, which will debut tonight (4 December) during Melissa & Joey on E4, is the fifth instalment in the ‘Sweeet’ campaign, which has been running for  McVitie’s products throughout the year. As well as the first ever TV appearance for Victoria, it is McVitie’s first Christmas advert for more than 30 years.

The 60-second ad features a menagerie of baby animals, including a kitten, duckling, husky pup, piglet, reindeer calf and narwhal. The £1m campaign brings the total McVitie’s advertising spend to £12m this year.

Alongside the campaign, UB has also refreshed the product. Victoria’s packaging now features a redesigned hinged box and re-closable foil film trays. The standard pack size has been increased by 40% to 700g (rsp: £10).

“Bringing Victoria to TV screens this Christmas is the culmination of what has been an extremely successful year for McVitie’s, following the launch of our masterbrand strategy early in 2014,” said Sarah Heynen, UB’s marketing director for sweet biscuits. “The latest campaign aims to tap into consumers’ love for McVitie’s and the Victoria range, whilst supporting our continuing efforts to drive growth into the category.”

UB moved all its sweet biscuit brands except Go Ahead under the McVitie’s umbrella earlier this year as part of its masterbrand strategy, which gives Jacob’s the same role for savoury biscuits. The move has paid off, with McVitie’s combined sales rising 4.9% to £392.8m [Nielsen 52 w/e 11 October 2014].

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