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……

@OhBuggerandArse 😂😂😂😂

It made me cry and I thought it was brilliant. Their adverts are always divisive but they get people talking which is probably a measure of success in itself

Is this a joke? I can’t tell if you’re serious or not

Why would it be a joke? It’s not.

Maybe because of the recent story of Reform MP Sarah Pochin who said in an interview that black/ Asian people were over represented in advertising. Her comments were condemned but apparently over a quarter of white Britain agree with her.

Just because there’s only 4 people in the ad - not every ad needs to be representative of everyone ever.

Menacing isn't the word I'd use, but I get the point. I thought the father-son estrangement was very clumsily shown and not clear it wasn't something more serious until they hugged over a record.

I think the overall message - if you can't find the words, find the gift - is a pretty good one for a retailer at Christmas. I liked that it wasn't schmaltzy and I'm generally pleased to see stuff pushing for men (and boys) to think about gift giving.

So overall, I like it but think it could probably have been done better.

Black people are already significantly over-represented in advertising in the UK.

We are the global majority so it’s only appropriate that we appear more frequently on TV. But not, it would seem, on JL adverts.

What does "global" have to do with this? It's a UK Christmas advert. Should the people in it be speaking Mandarin while celebrating Ramadan?

Just watched the advert after seeing this thread. It is weird. Not uplifting at all, to me. I guess the family look scared and the father angry because dad and son weren't getting along, and the record was a peace offering, reminding the dad that his kids were the best things that happened to him? Surely there would have been gentler ways to portray that. I wouldn't want to watch it a second time.

To be fair, it's an effective ad though - got us all talking about John Lewis!

I think black and Asian (me included) would swap ad representation for more tangible things like equal opportunities in the work force.

I'm all for representationof different races/nationalities/abilities/ages/sexes, but for goodness sake, this is an ad with just one family in it. They couldn't represent everyone.

They're are plenty of ads out there that do feature black families in their story, so it's not like they're not represented elsewhere. But it's perfectly okay for this one to feature a white family

It is just dull and cringeworthy. All the weird staring and dad's creepy dancing.
Still yes they did generate conversation I suppose so there's that.

I think you will find that there are plenty of advertisements with a 'black family centre stage'. There are also a number showing people with a disability - I particularly like the RNIB one with the young girl excitedly talking about Christmas.

I also think this would be a controversial advert to be centred on a black family, given the focus on challenging father-son relationships.

That's quite an accusation, @BIWI. Can you back it up?

I think it is a brilliant and moving advert. No woke nonsense and lovely to see a white nuclear family once again.

Interested to see if those that don’t like it don’t have teenage boys. Everyone I know who has a teenage or recently teenage boy loved it. Others not so much. I have 17 and 19 year old boys - with the 19 year old being quite challenging at times- and it really struck a chord!

Just gone to quote someone a few posts away from this one who was asking what the response would be if it was someone who was black in the advert, and a black family what the response would be and it's just been deleted?! 😕 Think it was a fair question
I mean, barrels response shows exactly what the response would have been from some.

No racism here and unlike you I won't start flinging insults around. Was it racist of Southernfashion to say it would have been lovely to see a black family at the centre of the advert? I have said the same thing.

It's clear from this thread that if you have a teenage boy who is challenging you must be a dreadful parent and probably abusive. The only reason why a teenager might be distant and moody is because they are terrified of you and your wild rages. Especially if you don't walk about smiling and chattering all day. Hang your head in shame.