Our Christmas ads feel like they come earlier each year – but our American cousins have a big roast dinner in November to get through, too: it’s Thanksgiving week.

Cranberry giant Ocean Spray stands to benefit from both occasions – hence its splashing the cash on a big star for its festive campaign: Bryan Cranston. The Breaking Bad star plays Cran-pus, a cranberry sauce and juice hoarding version of the ‘Christmas devil’ who punishes naughty children in central European folklore. A Grinch with edge, basically.

The impressively costumed Cranston is a riot, reeling off ‘cran’ related puns (“this year’s cran-celled!”) with gusto as he steals sauce, confiscates cocktails and ruins a festive party with a glass-shattering karaoke performance. Refreshingly free of schmaltz, it would be a winner even if his name didn’t begin with ‘Cran’.

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