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?

Why has the bear not eaten the hare?!

They are boys, see link, they are referred to has him, he and his

www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-24901114

I thought they were friends too, didn't really think male or female.

The bear looks sad when the first snowflake falls, I assumed because the hare had told him all about christmas, but he knew he would miss it. So the hare bought him an alarm clock so he would wake up in time.

That's my interpretation anyway!

I thought f them as friends, first. gender - never really thought but I suppose if I did I'd think both male

I like the way Lily Allen sings the song.

Newt - I really love your name, but I'm afraid you're dead to me now after 'liking' Lily Allen's singing

Get away from her, you bitch!

Yeah, they're just friends.

And yep, I always think, " why would a bear be friends with a hare? Surely half of those animals would have eaten the other half!"

Friends, best buddies. And just like Fox and the bloody hound, it gets me every time. For some reason having a friendship denied in cartoon form, is apparently my weak point.

My dsds 9/10 times will pick fox and the hound to watch as a film, and then giggle and say 'better not pink will cry again'. Told my DP that bear and the hare got me, only for him to YouTube it and set me off.

I love the advert. Made me cry.

Bear and Hare are both male, and are good friends. I am in the industry, I know these things!

Its a stupid ad though.

I love the way that people are about a bear being friends with a hare but are totally fine about animals all getting together to celebrate Christmas together.

Why could they not both have been female?

I love the advert but DS1 gets really pissed off for the bear!

The Sainsburys one on the otherhand makes me want to lob something at the telebox!

Heart

Soz about Lily Allen. I just find it quite touching.

They mostly come at night, mostly

I like the way Lily Allen sings the song, too. It had me in tears doing the school run, maybe that was just her singing!

I have no idea about the gender of the bear or the hare, but the bear looks a bit stinky to me.

When he yawns, you can practically see his rancid beary breath.

I was wondering why everyone assumed the bear was male?

I love it, it also makes me cry!

Just

Cos he' snot wearing anything pick? That's my usual means of differentiating

Poo

that was meant to be "cos he's not wearing anything pink"

I thought they were both male, because we have a book called Bear Snores On, with a male bear and male hare in it, that look just like that. All the animals have a party in Bear's den while he hibernates, then he suddenly wakes up.

There is a sequel called Bear wakes up for Christmas, which John Lewis have clearly ripped off for the purposes of their advert.

Spooked

Someone should sue someone

We have the e-book of it. They are both male, narrator says 'he' for both of them. What is really stupid though is that (a) Hare is telling Bear how lovely and snowy Christmas is as they walk through bloody snow already! and (b) Bear goes off to hibernate and then 'the next day' it's Christmas. Surely he'd wait one day to hibernate? They should have said 'two months later' or something. Totally unrealistic!!

Why do either of them need to be gendered? Female rabbits don't have bloody eyelash extensions! And if they are lovers rather than friends then why not a male rabbit and female hare? I'm always a bit disappointed with the default being male if not specified. Half the population is female after all.

nooka

You are right.

I just thought of 'Yogi's First Christmas' (1980) rip-off when I saw it.

I much preferred last year's advert.

I'm loving the bear and the hare.

I actually want the cuddly versions for Christmas, even though if I know if I sink low enough to ask for them I will be totally over it by the time the turkey's in the oven.

I did get the app though.