"There’s nothing more disappointing than a half-arsed Christmas ad" says Lambie-Nairn executive creative director Adrian Burton, adVENT Day: 23

"Christmas? There's a template for that."

"It's not very Christmassy. Can we put a robin on it?"

"No. Not according to the guidelines."

Christmas is a cracking time of year for advertising. As we’ve already seen from this advent calendar, a lot of iconic ads come out at Christmas. Many of us gleefully anticipate the annual onslaught, hoping to spot a new favourite or tear apart a complete turkey. And, whatever our professional opinions, there’s always a lot of public excitement surrounding the seasonal offerings of John Lewis, Coca-Cola et al.

But the truth is, there’s nothing more disappointing than a half-arsed Christmas ad. And this year, HSBC’s attempt to jump on the bandwagon has been embarrassingly limp.

Frankly, mortgages aren’t sexy and they’re certainly not Christmassy. But HSBC could have been so much more creative with this. They didn’t even have to be original – a safe, warm home at Christmas and a gentle nudge to remind us that an HSBC mortgage can get us there. A tired idea, well executed, would have done the trick.

We know that the HSBC brand is a great one and that they’re capable of some really bold and effective advertising. This, however, is neither. Perhaps as ‘The World’s Local Bank’ they didn’t feel that an emphasis on Christmas would fit their brand or be worth the ad spend. That’s fine. But you can’t just dip a toe into Christmas marketing: go the whole Christmas hog or don’t bother.

Adrian Burton is executive creative director of international branding agency Lambie-Nairn and a Drum Design Awards judge. Never one to do things by halves, Adrian successfully manages to juggle a set of twin boys with a high-profile client roster that includes the BBC, Telefónica and Fifa.

Madwomen's Gail Parminter praises Ikea's "bright, fresh joyful and modern" approach to advertising in her 22 December adVENT.