Sainsbury’s Christmas ad has been viewed more than 10 million times on YouTube since launching last week.

And sales of the chocolate bar featured in the ad, which ­recreates the famous football match between British and German soldiers on Christmas Day during the First World War, have been so high the retailer has had to order more stock to keep up with demand.

“We’ve been absolutely delighted with the overwhelmingly positive reaction to our commemorative chocolate bar,” said Sainsbury’s head of brand communication Mark Given. “More bars will land in stores soon. We’ve been working closely with our supplier to double the size of our original order, so there’ll be plenty of chocolate for sharing in the run-up to Christmas and to raise funds for The Royal British Legion.”

If sales continued at the same rate, he said, an additional £500,000 would be raised for The Royal British Legion.

The ad has sparked mixed reactions since breaking during Coronation Street last Wednesday (12 November), with many declaring the ad better than John Lewis’s but others angry that such an historical moment is being used in a supermarket campaign.

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