What’s the name of the girl playing the drums in this Argos Christmas advert?
The girl playing the drum kit in this year’s festive Argos ad is Nandi Bushell who, rather than being just another advert actor, really is a drummer and also sings. We have more information about the advert and its soundtrack here.
This isn’t, however, the Ipswich schoolgirl’s first appearance in a TV ad campaign as she previously played the drums in that John Lewis and Waitrose advert that showed children performing a theatrical cover of Queen’s ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’.
Joining Nandi in the ad is drummer Omar Abidi who plays the father. Omar has recently been working as an actor, appearing in Disney’s live-action remake of Aladdin, but is best known for playing drums in the alternative rock/heavy metal band Fightstar.
The Argos Christmas advert music that Nandi and her on-screen father play along to is ‘Don’t You (Forget About Me)’, which was released in 1985 by Glasgow rock band Simple Minds.
The Argos ad begins with a man looking through the retailer’s Book of Dreams gift guide catalogue, where he finds a drum kit his daughter has circled as the Christmas present she wants. But it’s at this moment that the kitchen table splits in two to reveal those very drums.
As the man starts playing the drums, the Simple Minds video comes on the telly and their kitchen transforms into a concert stage. All of this noise understandably disturbs the daughter’s sleep, who makes her way down the stairs to join in the drumming performance.
Along with Very and Iceland, Argos was one of the first big names to released their festive advertising campaigns for 2019, with shorter edits of the video now already airing regularly during TV ad breaks. The question now is will this commercial lead to a big demand for drum kits as Christmas presents this year? They are after all a little more affordable for the parents of young children than a piano as featured in last year’s John Lewis advert. Although I’m sure many parents would prefer to buy their kids a ‘silent’ digital drum kit instead if they don’t have a spare garage available.
2/10/2019