Christmas Insider report.

The report was among 40 runners up in the 29th annual Food Marketing Institute/Women's Day Advertising Merit awards published in Supermarket News.

The institute judged over 500 entries worldwide from 10 stores in 20 categories.

The institute awards are the Oscars of food industry advertising, said The MarketPlace.

"We tried something new and different and it worked out well for the stores,'' said MarketPlace advertising manager Ms Cathy Pantry.

First place was taken by Tom Thumb, a Dallas retailer, and Coles Supermarkets in Sydney, Australia.