John Lewis

[Sheknowsaboutme]

Oh dear. Another shit Christmas ad.

bring back Edgar and Buster!

It made me feel stressed. Way too scrappy, noisy and fragmented. Also like PP I was confused about who was who.

Surely John Lewis want help people to feel calm and in control? There is no feel good here at all.

Well, I understood it and got the concept although the overall Tone made me feel as though someone was dead - I did wonder if the people were 'ghosts of Christmas past'.
It was a bit frantic, although I liked that there were virtually no women in it. Not sure that Sonnet by The Verve was the best song for it either.
They're never going to top the Bear and the Hare, so I have to live with that. At least it wasn't "weirdo Grandad on the moon" level of bad!

Can't edit on the app - meant to say virtually no MEN in it!

I quite liked it! It portrayed a nice sisterly relationship and the fast paced bit helped get across their message of don’t worry if you’ve left it to the last minute, JL’ll save you! Although they she’d leave her beloved sister’s gift so late is another matter 😂

It was better than that god-awful one of the young lad in a dress wrecking the house while his mum looked on adoringly. I think we were all supposed to love that. Was that JL?

I like the Boots one too 🙈 I thought it was good fun, although the idea of Mrs Claus taking over the reins is far from novel. I like Adjoa Andoh from Bridgerton and I like most of all it’s got people frothing about it being ‘woke’. Well played Boots 👍🏻

It was pretty obvious that the mother was dead from the main character's reaction!

I wonder whether there will be some kind of short follow-up (or online/print/outdoor ad) with the 'what did she buy?' reveal.
The Waitrose ad is set up as a Whodunit, with a reveal to come, so I thought this could be the same.

They changed ad agency last year, to Saatchi & Saatchi, and I seem to remember the brief was to take the Christmas ads in a slightly different direction.

I was just so relieved that the main character wasn’t dead. It definitely felt it was heading that way for me when she walked down some stairs and the wall started crumbling away.

Do you know what @kierenthecommunity? I was judging it by what I'd heard, and I should have known better. I just watched it and you're right - it was fun! My apologies.

I liked it: I got that it was her sister throughout and presumed that it was her mum/she’d died. I kind of wanted to know what she’d bought but it didn’t spoil it for me. Liked the focus on female relationships and how getting the right gift is about knowing someone and having shared history; liked the depiction of everyday family stuff and the idea of connecting with your childhood.Some clever shifts in perspective. It did feel a bit frenetic but defo not their worst. I suspect it won’t land with men at all. But I also suspect they aren’t target audience!

I liked it. I found it easy to follow and enjoyed the Narnia reference. I'm always underwhelmed by JL Christmas adverts and don't think I've felt tearful from an advert since the iconic Yellow Pages one with Ned & the lawnmower back in the 80's!
I liked the celebrating of the sisters' relationship and all the family memories.
Was the hare one the one where Lily Allen slaughtered the fab Keane song?
This year I'll miss the fabulous Chanel No 5 dancing on the moon advert which has been replaced by Barbie & Elvis driving a lot. This new JL is quite frenetic and I'll enjoy watching it and noticing new details whenever it's on. Sonnet is a good song too and this year's cover is fine.

@Housewife2010 - Richard Ashcroft would be pleased to know you like the version of the song... it's the original!!

Apparently they have a competition to submit a cover of it, and the winner will have it played on a Christmas Day airing of the ad.

I think the big Christmas advert trend just isn't what it was 10 years ago.

The advert is fine, and is thought provoking. Nice to see a sister relationship being explored instead of happy family.
I don't think many adverts are as memorable as the ones in the 2010's and that's fine.

Just try and enjoy it for what it is 🎅🏼🎄❤️

Also, the penguin advert with the Tom Odell song was by FAR the best John Lewis advert 😊

I like it - it's the closest I've got to any kind of lump-in-the-throat reaction to one of their ads for many years. Last year was the triffid/Little Shop of Horrors disappointment that managed to be awful and entirely forgettable at the same time (can't even remember the soundtrack song now, never mind any of the products it was supposed to be selling.)

This one feels pleasantly nostalgic and female-focused, which is the market they need to win for christmas gift-buying. It also taps into the emotional aspect of choosing presents (and I reckon they've borrowed from Fleabag for the concept - close sisters, dead mum.) It offers various ideas - jewellery, scarf, soft toys etc, though the star product is clearly the nordic jumper she's wearing, which is probably going to be sold out by lunchtime. There's also the nice coat she puts on, and probably lots of other products that will be more noticeable in the shorter segments that will be shown on TV.

That's the weird thing about this mega-bucks christmas adverts now, they're mini-feature films for people to watch once online, and they hardly ever appear on TV at all after this week in November when all the stores are showing them off. I guess they spend all their budget on making them and can't afford the slots to show them after that! It'll be interesting to see how they chop this one up and how many times it's actually on TV.

Going against the general feelings here - I actually liked it so much better than last years. Did not find it hard to understand and the story seemed clear to me.

That's good they used that original. They should have done the same with the Keane song rather than than have Lily Allen and her fake glottal stops spoil it.

Really? I just thought it was a reflective moment - if she’d been dead surely she’d have gone into the room and talked to her/tried to hug her?!

It made me sad as I thought her sister was dead/list to her and I don't have a relationship with my sister so found the ending really abrasive.
My favourite is kevin the carrot but then I love the silliness and bad puns

Reminded me of one of those Apprentice ads they do. Very confusing .Very meh. Preferred the rumoured Robyn one.

There was a funny send up of a Christmas ad on facebook the other day - a girl making home made gifts for the sad old neighbour opposite - she knocks on the door and hands him the gifts with a beaming smile, and he says "What a load of crap! "

I saw that! Brilliant 🤣.

I so agree.

Loved that one 🤣

It’s silly but I like the Morrisons one with the singing oven gloves lol. The M&S one isn’t up to much, and I didn’t get what the JL one was trying to say. 🤷‍♀️

I wish they would all bring back the animal type funny ones. 😑

Ooh, I loved it!
It was all about her love for her sister.