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……

Me too. I think maybe you had to have been there and now have teenage boys. A particular demographic I grant you!

@SunnySideDeepDown don’t worry, I don’t think that the adverti is typical! Most teens can still communicate enough with their parents to be able to say ‘hey, Ive got a present for you!’ And most parents, if they found a present from one of their kids unopened would say ‘oh, I found this! Is it from you?’ and call the son back downstairs.
A lot of teens still do get on with their parents (most of the time!) so don’t despair.

I saw this as the dad looking across the dance floor and seeing his future which he might have thought was quite dull and staid at that point in his life - he thinks being out dancing and having a good time is 'where love is". Then the dancing melts away and he remembers his son as little boy running up to him and as a baby and he realises that this little boy has grown up into someone who knows exactly what he wants for Christmas. It's the realisation that 'where love is' is in his life, in his house, in that moment (and by extension in John Lewis!) pulled together by a song that still has a huge resonance for him. He knows he's a very lucky man and the reason the boy looks nervous is because he's not sure if his gift is going to a hit or a miss.

I do find it a bit depressing though. I hate being reminded of how my now little kids will grow more distant from me as they age. The message is completely the opposite - it’s that no one knows you better than your kids as you will eventually realise - like this dad.

I think visually it is reminiscent of that but the bit where the music plays and they connect really got to me. I know it’s soppy but there you go.

I found it life affirming as a gen X former clubber with teens I have to say. Actually bought a tear to my eye! I was at university away from home for the first time at 17 when that track was in all the clubs in the very early 90s and it was incredible. Anyone who says it's not an iconic song (the club mixes anyway) wasn't there.

I guess JL have realised it's all the Gen Xers who buy the Christmas presents, table decorations, cushions, towels etc now! Nice to have an advert about us for a change 😀

I also took from it that he enjoyed being escorted back to his rave days but then suddenly realised children and family are more important and through all the noise he suddenly saw his son very clearly. It’s about that reconnection and they are the only people in the room. That’s why it goes black and everyone else fades away. Not sinister.

But firmly Gen X!

Me too. It’s so ‘try hard’

I’m not that demographic and I love it.

I am Gen X - I love the song. But not the ad

So many people thinking that this advert was going down the ISeeDeadPeople route. Even if you personally like this miserable advert you must admit, it isn't achieving broad appeal.

Its going down pretty well on twitter if you're on there. I thinks it's a lot more appealing than the M&S one with a gurning Dawn French stomping over people.

EAch to their own, I thought it was really clever, and a sentimental tear jerker which is what JL always goes for at Xmas.

Is it? Going down pretty well with who?

I don't think you can tell much from your own experience of twitter as the algorithm will only push specific content at you. Someone else will be seeing a completely different reaction.

You see, I'm not a big Dawn French fan, but the M&S ad still nailed warm and festive vibes - even if you don't like the execution. Nobody is walking away from that advert thinking that it had an ominous tone or the big reveal was going to be a dead kid.

But it was fatuous, tbh. I think Dawn French is wasted on those ads.

The response to this ad, on MN, exposes two different approaches to Christmas and Christmas advertising. There are obviously those who want frothy, stereotypical Christmas ‘schmaltz’ (for want of a better word!) and those who prefer something more realistic and more emotionally deep.

It’s easy to say that there’s nothing wrong with either approach - if you like it, then you like it - but I’m of the view that the former pushes the ‘happy families together at Christmas having a lovely time’ - which is a narrative that puts a huge amount of pressure on us all. How many threads/posts do you see on here each year about wanting to create the perfect Christmas?

There’s no such thing. And I’d rather that advertising reflected that, rather than create an unrealistic, picture-perfect view of what Christmas ‘should’ be about.

Well it's been trending in the UK for 2 days and I dont think that is curated.

Each to their own. I thought the M&S one with DF having a paddy was truly shit. Actually puts me off getting xmas food there, which I normally do.

I don’t get how you turned that into me saying they talked and smiled all the time. I’m out.

People don't want realism in their Christmas adverts. People want to get away from reality for 2 minutes and be made to feel good.

The JL Hare & Bear and the dog trampoline adverts were perfect. Why change the formula?

It may be trending, that doesn't mean the sentiment is all positive

But who is putting their hand in their pocket and splurging for Christmas in November, those who like the schmaltzy adverts (guilty) or those who think that John Lewis has done some kind of social good by demonstrating some grey realism of their own tense and unjolly family life at Christmas?

JL have changed their advertising agency since those ads, so they'll naturally want to change it up a bit.

I don't think the idea was bad here, I just think they pushed it too far in the execution.

i don’t know if it’s a bit weird to advertise for selling something they don’t usually sell and won’t have much of. It’s not very John lewisy lol

This!

No idea how it can be seen as menacing! My DH and I were both quite moved by the ad...probably as we currently have a teenage son so it resonated.