To not have understood Bear and Hare...

[SugarHut]

The John Lewis advert. I love it, makes me cry. A friend was here yesterday and asked me why it made me tearful.. I start with saying that he (hare) is so sad that his friend is leaving him to hibernate....

My friend replies "He?"

"Yes, him and him, they are best friends."

"The hare is clearly a girl. Don't you get that, it's the stereotypical thing of the little female and her big strong bear of a man. That's the thinking behind it. How on earth did you interpret it??!"

"They're just best friends?? Surely the hare would have little eyelashes or slightly rosier cheeks or something if we were meant to place it as female? Plus, an alarm clock is not a very romantic gift if they're meant to be lovers?! Plus why would a bear be shagging a hare?? The snowman one last year was obviously a male and a female. These are both boys and best friends!!"

Well in my head they are anyway. He thinks I'm mad.

How did you interpret it?

Same as you. He's talking pish.

I wondered why on earth the hare was leaving an alarm clock out for the bear.

In my defence, I had been working stupid hours trying to finish off a project

Yep, two male friends, same as you

They are mates. Its not romantic. Its friendship. Your friend is full of crap :o

I saw them as friends and the hare was desperate that his friend was going to share in the magic of Christmas. It makes me want to cry to and I do not really know why.

YANBU it's definitely two boys (at least in my head).

However this is coming from somebody who thought that the bear had some sort of terminal illness/depressive disorder and couldn't understand how an alarm clock could cure him. It was only on second viewing that I actually figured it out

I like bunnies.

That's as deep as I got.

I can't believe I still haven't even seen this!

Hate the M&S one though - because nothing says Christmas like Rosie HW in her skimpy undies, does it?

I haven't thought about whether they are male or female, they are just friends. Even is one is male and the other female can they not be friends without sex cropping up?

I was bemused by it.

Isn't an alarm clock a rather passive-aggressive gift from the hare?

If I was the bear, and someone thought it was a laugh to sneak an alarm clock up on me which I slept.... There'd be a bloody, fluffy footprint outside my lair.

It makes me want to cry because the hare looks like the rabbits in Watership Down. I presumed it was two male animals.

Oooooh I hate the M&S one too. It's cringey to watch. It's like you can see what they wanted to achieve, but just didn't quite get there.

I am unmoved by it...I struggle to be sentimental about animals at the best of times...it is even harder with Lily Allen thrown into the mix.

Friends, hadn't thought of the sex, but the rabbit could be female. No romance!

He also protests that the little "gasp" of joy the hare gives when he/she sees bear reappear on the top of the hill has a distinctly pervy look which is not the look of friendship...

The alarm clock wakes him up so he doesn't miss Christmas this year by hibernating. Def mates. Some people really do find nuances in the strangest things

Definitely a girl bunny but they're still just mates.

Was glad it's actually obviously a girl bunny because something like 90% of children's story book animals are male and it seems, from listening to other parents, all of the animals at our local city farm are too including the cows and the hens...

I didn't like the singer, or the song.

I can't even see what they (M&S) wanted to achieve! Dense...

Unless they just wanted to achieve bloke's going 'phwoar' (a la Sid James) all up and down the country?

I was going to Google the Bear and the Hare but the mention of Lily Allen has put me right off. The only way that could be worse would be if her fecking brother was in it too!

Sorry but I dont get why you would would wake your mate up and possibly kill him by doing so.

Crap advert. Not at all emotive

This years was the 1st year their ads DIDN'T make me cry - the happy families tumbling into bed 1st thing was the ones that made me cry seeing as I can't give my dd that.

Just a shame about Lilly Allen!!!!

Ah-they clearly didn't consult properly with bear experts. Because I'm pretty sure they'd also have poo pooed the idea of a hare riding a bear. And some of those other animals clearly wouldn't have the dexterity to open gifts. And how did they but them, anyway? Or...poetic license?

I can't help thinking poor bear being woke up in the middle of hibernation.

When he's starving come spring I bet he'll be overjoyed he got up for christmas.

I didn't understand it til I saw the very beginning which says something like 'there was a creature who had never seen Christmas Day...' Suddenly everything made sense