There is no Blofeld, no Scaramanga and no corny bedroom scenes, but Marks & Spencer is pinning millions of pounds on the hope that its new James Bond-inspired Christmas advertising campaign will seduce festive shoppers.

While once M&S signed up celebrity names such as David Beckham and Will Young to pull in Christmas trade, this year it is relying on Dame Shirley Bassey, wearing a £150 scarlet M&S Magicwear hold-it-all-in dress and belting out a Goldfinger-style version of Pink's Let's Get The Party Started. The 90-second advert, which hits television screens tonight, features the retailer's five star models - Twiggy, Laura Bailey, Erin O'Connor, Noemie Lenoir and Lizzie Jagger - in glitzy locations and dresses. Like a scene straight out of a Bond movie, there are skidoos tearing across a snowy landscape, reindeer sleighs and ice staircases. The closing shot shows the exterior of a swanky hotel with a night sky lit up with fireworks spelling out "From Your M&S With Love".

The advert was shot not on location somewhere suitably snowy, but in a warehouse in Park Royal, one of north-west London's less glamorous suburbs.

The retailer insists it is not cashing in on Casino Royale, the new James Bond film. "We are tapping into the whole retro vibe," explained M&S's marketing director, Steven Sharp, who has masterminded the retailer's "this is not just a..." advertising campaign.

He refused to say how much the campaign would cost, but M&S chief executive, Stuart Rose, said yesterday the company's marketing budget - which includes advertising - had climbed from £48m in the first six months of last year to £59m this year.