John Lewis and it’s ‘gender relaxed’ ad

Me too!

Wish I’d seen what SirChenjins said!

Definite Desmond is Amazing vibes from the boy - can't be a coincidence surely? Grim.

Everyone involved in the creation of that repellent ad would benefit from a good slap and having their stuff spoiled by obnoxious little brats
Seems I've made my last purchase from JL, then.

Fancy should be have been dancey...

And it's the in thing, doncha know!?

All things Jamie, sparkly, fancy, can be appropriated for selling anything you like.

Cos it's most definitely the innest of in things ever!

Why on earth would a respectable brand like JL want to be associated with sexualising children, misogyny and misleading their customers?

Because at the behest of TRA organisations, this is the prevailing culture in all walks of life - government, civil service, judiciary, schools, commercial organisations. Just replace the word "customer" with "electorate", "defendant/claimant", "pupil/student" etc.

I am so glad my home insurance isn't with JL as I'd have to cancel it after seeing this.

I've complained to JL saying that it's fine for a boy to wear a dress but when you combine that with over the top make up, pouting and sexualised poses it is sexualising a young child.

It is also reinforcing harmful stereotypes of "boys will be boys" I.e. violent, bullying and antisocial while the woman amd girl look on quietly (too scared to react?). How misogynistic.

It is also misleading as PP have said, deliberate damage isn't included in their home insurance cover.

Why on earth would a respectable brand like JL want to be associated with sexualising children, misogyny and misleading their customers?

Boys can do what they like, with impunity, as long as they're dressed as girls.

Seems consistent with the party line of today.

Gender non conforming, fine. Behaving like a shit trashing everything in your wake on purpose while the females look on in silence and no one puts a stop to it because yay glitter - well....

That's all I'll say about that.

And getting away with it because he's wearing a dress?

The very reason why this board exists is directly due to the prevalence of that narrative.

The ad has just popped up on my Insta feed in truncated form, he's just chucking the umbrella and tipping the paint on the floor. Half the comments are just horrified at a boy in a dress and the other half are congratulating JL for being so progressive. It's predictably awful.

It is the posing and pouting that I find disturbing.

I wonder if John Lewis are aware of 10 year old Desmond is Amazing. Who posed in a sexy pic, with a naked man, and twerked in a gay club while men threw money at him.

Or that nine-year-old boy drag queen, Queen Lactatia. Who said if your parents don't agree with drag, get new parents, to much adult laughter.

I can't think this advert would have happened in that much of a vacuum. Surely, if you're thinking along the lines of a boy dressing up in women's clothes and strutting about, the first thing you would do is Google it.

That is a fucking awful advert

Oh, & that child did not look like he was enjoying any of it!

Irrespective of the boy dressing up and whatever agenda that is playing to, I'm not a fan of the ad. He is being a badly behaved spolit brat and I think most parents would take a dim view of his wilful damage and bad behaviour.
What on earth are JL doing? Seems like this ad has been produced by a 22 year old with no understanding of the JL target audience.

Also, what kind of message is 'let your kids trash the house and claim on insurance?' Increased claims put everyone's premiums up!

Dreadful.

To me it seemed like an updated version of "boys will be boys", it's just this one had raided his mum's stuff rather than been out playing football. If they want to break stereotypes, perhaps next time they could have a girl kicking a ball around & targeting the windows. That would be less gender-conforming than having a boy randomly trashing stuff! Also slightly more likely to be claimable on insurance!

I'm going to complain to JL and I hope lots of other people will as well. We can't change society by doing nothing.

The first ad, which I've just seen, is also exploitative, in my opinion.

Young girls do go all sexy drama sometimes. But it's context which is important.

Our current climate is sexualising children younger and younger. And there are certain people who are desperate to normalise it. I really don't want John Lewis to subliminally insert that into an advert.

Not to mention the pass that the boy gets given for wanton destruction, bullying his sister, and JL portraying their mum as a helpless bystander in the face of his admirable flamboyance.

JL are known for their adverts. It forms a part of their USP. They have a social responsibility.

And of course, that boy looked like Desmond is Amazing.

Pouting, strutting, diva.

And I totally understand why people like it. The sexualisation of children is being held up as as cute and funny. That's what normalisation is.

If you're watching that ad and admiring it and thinking how fun it is, then that normalisation is working.

What a terrible advert. A little shit of a kid trashing the place while his sister and mum look on and do nothing but hey it is all ok because he is 'letting life happen' and John Lewis will apparently pay for all the mindless damage. This is the worst ad I think I've seen. Absolute disgrace.