Male entitlement in the John Lewis ad

[MardyBra]

www.independent.co.uk/life-style/john-lewis-advert-boy-backlash-b1938929.html

Lots to deconstruct in this.
I have no problem with an exuberant boy in a dress (although I feel JL are trying very hard to show their target market how woke they are).

But the wilful destruction of the home his mum has put a lot of time and effort into offends my feminist (and middle-class!) sensibilities.

JL says it’s a ‘young actor getting carried away with his dramatic performance”, not “wilfully damaging his home”.’ He looks a bit old to be at the crayonning on the wall stage still.

It's a bloody irritating advert tbh. Doesn't make me want to buy JL insurance at all but it's getting talked about an awful lot, so maybe it is achieving whatever it set out to achieve?

Are you ASSUMING it was his mother who decorated the home??? Oops

And how does this count as accidental damage until their insurance policy?

Oops sorry Holly. It’s just that the father seems to be absent,

Good point Alexa. And I’ve fallen right into the trap.

It's hugely irritating.

I've already told Waitrose (in a customer satisfaction survey) that they need to concentrate on selling me groceries and forget all the woke shite. It's all getting a bit tiring.........

@MardyBra

Good point Alexa. And I’ve fallen right into the trap.

As have we all!

It’s a boy in a dress trashing his home. Doesn’t hit the right note for me at all.

I get what they were aiming for… child gets carried away and causes damage. However this just looks like a kid on a deliberate rampage and is over the top.

I saw this advert and all I thought was where is a parent stopping him behaving in that manner! I wouldn't buy insurance from a supermarket anyway.

Over thinking it really. An insurance advert is always going to show stuff getting wrecked. Anyway the mum is clearly useless, she let the kid kick the handle of a pan sitting on a stove top but at least its not that bloody Go Compare singing monstrosity.

Would they actually pay out for deliberate damage?

This is how i imagine families with the "i let them express themselves. Wouldn't want to kurb their character... Like all the others"
😁
It's shite ad

@Holly60

Are you ASSUMING it was his mother who decorated the home??? Oops

Niccce

I just see a spoilt brat wrecking the house. I will turn it off if I see it just because of that.

It’s vile. Not because of the boy wearing a dress and make up, but the obnoxious and destructive behaviour in the name of “exuberance”, “expressing themselves” “performance” etc. He very deliberately breaks and destroys other peoples possessions - that’s not behaviour I would accept off any child, much less celebrate or allow in the name of “let life happen”. Nor do I believe for one second an insurance company would pay up for that scene.

Tiny Dancer a few years ago was similar and for same company but actually a genuinely nice and heartwarming advert.

I thought along similar lines - whether they are kicking balls or dressing up, it’s always a boy who’s carefree and happily messing up the house. As a given, that “boys wreck your house”

It’s never a girl being seen trashing the house and that’s ok, and a given, that she will. Not kicking a ball through the window, and not upsetting the pictures in a fabulous outfit.

What an incredibly naughty child! I would be absolutely FURIOUS if my son did that. His sex and the clothes he’s wearing are totally irrelevant. I’d make him clean it up and pay for the damage out of his pocket money, and there would be punishment on top of that in terms of having toys and privileges removed. Purposeful damage is unlikely to be covered on the home insurance anyway so I don’t see how the ad is relevant?

What an incredibly naughty child!

He's really not. He's just doing what he has been asked to do by the people making the advert.

It’s not so much the attempt at wokeness, more that my first thought is ‘fuck, imagine cleaning that shit up’ And I’d go so far as to think that for most women it would be a similar reaction. I know it’s an ad, but watching it did make me feel ever so slightly anxious. I mean, that paint on the carpet!

Yep. I wonder who is clearing up afterwards.

I’ve also just watched the full thing and his sister is, yep, portrayed as sitting nicely and drawing. He even knocks her paints over and isn’t reprimanded for it.

Is the mum a single parent?

Not seem the add so is it just mum depicted?

I have no issues with a boy wearing a dress or dancing around.

I have a massive problem with the portrayal of a boy as "taking up space" while a girl sits quietly "being good". It is a sexist trope.

@FluffyBooBoo

What an incredibly naughty child!

He's really not. He's just doing what he has been asked to do by the people making the advert.

erm ok

how do we know its a boy? is it relevant? do we care?