Why’s the John Lewis’ Xmas Ad so bloody menacing!

[Purplefoo]

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2025/nov/04/john-lewis-christmas-advert-countdown-90s-club-classic-where-love-lives

I genuinely thought it was about an abusive dad or a murderous son at first! So intense……

Haven't RTFT but thank GOD they managed to shoehorn in a (partial) slow acoustic cover of a famous nostalgic classic song...otherwise how would we have known it was the bloody JL Christmas ad?!

I honestly don't care to keep talking about this ad, which is just a tiny part of my morning. I don't like it. It's an opinion that's allowed!

This exactly. Now the Dad is currently: menacing, abusive, impatient, miserable…!

No - maybe deep in thought, reminiscing…!

People can have their own opinions on the advert and they can dislike it. But it is being misinterpreted. The advertising agency is not trying to portray an abusive father….

Our three adult sons go to so much trouble to find a gift for their old dad. It does resonate with me. No idea if DH will get it though

Again, you don't get to dictate how people react or "read" something, and nothing I said was untrue. Shall I talk you through it?

Mum saying let's clear the pressies off the table. That's the only dialogue in the whole ad.
Boy looks apprehensively at father.
Father is clearing up wrapping paper. He is not smiling. He is not speaking.
Boy turns back. Biting nail, looking thoughtful. Not smiling, not talking.
Boy gets up to clear his stuff off the table.
Girl looks at her brother. Not smiling, not talking. Looks worried.
Dad finds present. No talking. A small smile when he opens it and puts it on.
Boy creeps back down the stairs. Stops on the stairs and ducks down to look at his dad. No smiling. No talking.
Cut to the club scene. Dad's dancing and smiling.
Dad spots boy. Dad stops smiling and dancing. They tentatively amble towards each other.
Dad remembers boy as running toddler and then babe in arms. Toddler and baby both smiling. Dad not so much.
Cut to living room. Boy ambles to dad. Dad reaches out and gives him a hug and looks emotional. They then smile and dance.

This to me looks like a miserable family rendered temporarily less miserable because dad has unlocked his feelings via a record. Son feels he's made a connection. Normal service will probably resume tomorrow. A feeling many of us will be familiar with.

That was crap. Bring back Buster the boxer.

What I’m saying is that interpreting it like that, which lots of posters have - they have said that’s what it is, their interpretation is right and so on - is patently nonsense. That being accepted, maybe look at what’s actually there. Fine if you think it’s a bit depressing, not enough tinsel and toddlers or whatever, but to bang on about it being an abusive dad and showing a miserable Christmas is silly.

😂It's just an advert. Let it go.

I think I've just busted a rib laughing at this. What a load of codswallop!

I’m not dictating anything. I’m saying a correct reading (and there can be several - there have been on the thread) needs to take into account context. In this case that it’s an ad for Christmas, and so all those things you claim are out of context. Next step is to look at why certain groups might interpret out of context - that’s more interesting. Could be personal experience of bad Christmases, could be dislike of JL, or of Christmas ads, could be the desire to have a bit of an argument online. All valid.

Having rewatched it I definitely think it's the opening part that sets off the strange vibes.

The fact it's silent, the glances between the sister and brother. Is the son sulking because Dad hasn't opened his present (in which case it paints a bit of a weird picture where nobody feels comfortable to say 'oi, Dad you missed one') or has there been a fight etc.

Maybe that is some of us projecting based on our previous experiences but there have been a few comments about people feeling unsettled/uncomfortable. If you've been in a family environment where a parent is volatile there's some shades of that at the beginning.

I think it works better if you skip the first few seconds and it starts with Dad finding the present. You still get that connection between Dad and son based on music but you haven't potentially triggered some of your audience. It's a stronger advert for me if it starts with the son coming downstairs and realising that his Dad has found the gift.

It's nice to do something different than breathy cover/perfect happy families at Christmas and we're all talking about it so from an advertising point of view it's done it's job!

But we have no further context for the ad so it’s open to interpretation which is exactly my point. Who knows who is right or wrong in their interpretation?

I saw this thread earlier and saw the ad for the first time this afternoon. I didn't think it was menacing/odd at all.

Yeah no, this advert doesn't work at all. It seems sinister and morbid, and everybody seems disturbed and upset. The emotional reconnection after the gift just seems like two bereaved people supporting each other and finding solace or something.

Weird ad. I don't understand how people say its a tearjerker.

I thought it was about violence and abuse in the home, with the mother clearing away signs of Christmas, the sister's furtive looks, and a very sad looking autistic boy running upstairs.

I'd never associate it with joyfulness or the other associations people imagne having at Christmas time.

How am I taking it out of context? The ad has deliberately set up a scene of distance and apprehension in order to render the denouement of connection a victorious one for John Lewis. That's the intention of the ad: the power of a present to change the dynamics of a relationship. That they do this whilst invoking bad memories for some is not taking it out of context.

People don't want to be triggered or reminded of upsetting family times by a Christmas ad. This ad is way off in lifting spirits or being moving. Those that can't see it have maybe been fortunate enough not to experience this type of abusive behaviour in family life. I'm sure the advertising company didn't set out to do this but what is meant to be an empathetic advert comes across to me as anything but.

PS I also thought the son would be dead at the end. It's like an advert for to stop drink/drug driving. I expected the ad to end with a car crash, the son being dead and the father to be behind bars for drink driving.

In the same vein you don’t get to talk someone through it who interpreted it differently. Your explanation is your view on it, it’s not mine, it’s not the pp that you were replying to and I’m sure others will see it differently than both of us

So chastising the pp about them dictating how to read it and then spelling it out yourself is contradictory and some of what you say happened is from your own viewpoint and not everyone’s for example to me he wasn’t apprehensive and the dad smiles a lot more than what you indicate

Unless the creative director from the ad agency pops on to explain it, we will all have different interpretations and feelings, some of which have been quite extreme on here today

One thing is for sure I will be popping in to JL to look at their vinyls as well as getting my annual make your own Quality Street tin

Same. The sad, post-Christmas family vibes, the silence, the Dad looking into the middle distance...all screams something bad is about to happen.

And then something wonderful happens - the magic of Christmas.

Nice sentiment but really poorly executed.

That’s only your interpretation. I don’t see things so bleakly. Perhaps I’m lucky

Except there is nothing Christmassy about it at all, unless its to remember to contribute to Women's Aid at Christmas.

No, not really, just more, oooh I liked dancing once, poor me, wish I was young, oh but now I have a family, sigh, oh man, I forgot he was little once, guess he likes music too - I suppose we'll keep him. Maybe I should say something? But no, I am but a man.

I mean give me Slade and a table full of family feasting over this navel gazing shit any day of the week.