John Lewis and it’s ‘gender relaxed’ ad

[SouthernFashionista]

Curious to hear thoughts on the new ad from John Lewis. It strikes me as sinister. Why does a small child have to send out a message of LGBTQ equality? Why is he acting like a drag queen.

Does anyone know where this Ad has been broadcast? I haven’t seen it on TV (thank god).

One of the commenters on Youtube says that the boy in the advert is reminiscent of a younger Desmond Is Amazing (child drag queen, Google him if you don't know). I think the commenter is correct, but don't agree that this is in any way a good thing.

Just mentioning it for the posters who claim to think that we're reading too much into a harmless portrayal of a boy in a dress. It's not the dress that is the problem.

The fact that the original ad had a young girl dancing (who was also subtly sexualised with references to Flash dance) in her home makes this one worse IMO.

I’m picturing the ad firm luvvies going "OMG, we’ll be so on trend if we just reverse the sexes of the child of our last ad and ramp up the chaos!’…No thought at all to wider implications to a message about female passivity in the face of destruction…

No, just utterly and completely cynical and exploitative of young children’s play. As well as boring and unimaginative. Bad timing for them and JL in light of the growing anger about the treatment of women and girls caught in an onslaught of misogyny.

@GreenWhiteViolet

One of the commenters on Youtube says that the boy in the advert is reminiscent of a younger Desmond Is Amazing (child drag queen, Google him if you don't know). I think the commenter is correct, but don't agree that this is in any way a good thing.

Just mentioning it for the posters who claim to think that we're reading too much into a harmless portrayal of a boy in a dress. It's not the dress that is the problem.

I immediately thought of Desmond is Amazing when I saw the advert.

That would be the same Desmond who was photographed with a fully naked drag queen, right?

Perhaps JL have a new policy - wilful damage covered but only if caused by special children when performing sexualised caricatures of adult femininity. Anything else would surely be Erasing Their Literal Existence and Denying Their Lived Experience. Hope they get a few claims off the back of this shitshow of an ad.

No issue with the dress or the makeup. That bit looks fun.

But why are the mum and the sister just sitting there?! Are there really mums who would just look mildly alarmed and sit passively while their kid wrecked stuff?! Are there really little sisters who would not have objected when he knocked their paints onto the floor?

If JL really wanted to Let Life Happen the sister would have kicked off and there'd have been a screaming match at least.
Also if that was in my house I'd have intervened at the point he deliberately kicked his shoes at those lamps.

How does everyone know he's a boy, btw?

Are we genuinely supposed to assume he's literally a boy in a dress? How?

So much group think must have happened during the pitch for this ad.

In my head this happened: Ad agency reiterated the brief before they showed the ad, they probably changed a few words to make the ad fit the brief perfectly. Words such as: edgy, dynamic, challenging stereotypes, pushing boundaries and energy were probably used. There was probably a little bit of funny/anecdotal story telling weaved into the pitch about children and the shenanigans they get up to, everyone laughed. The JL team were encouraged to tell their own stories about their little monsters…everyone is now on the same page, agreeing that children can be little terrors, but what funny stories they provide us with (and my boss laughed at mine), oh and what a fun meeting this is!!

Lights are dimmed, the ad played. Everyone liked the ad on first view, as it matched the brief the ad agency had just (changed) reminded them of perfectly. A comment was cautiously made by someone from JL in appreciation, the commentator was affirmed by the ad agency ‘yeah, your so right’ and the commentator felt good about themselves, this then gave the ad agency another chance to expand on how the ad hit the brief. Then the comments of appreciation came flooding in, everyone was told how right they were. There was probably one or two people from JL in the room who had a few doubts - because they knew that the ad was a little misleading, did it actually represent the product? But by this point, the ‘positive energy’ in the room was at fever pitch and everyone was busily patting everyone else on the back. So those that had a few questions started to doubt their own feelings (maybe they were reading too much into it) and kept quiet. After all, if anyone from JL was overly critical, then they are in affect criticising their own ability to select an agency and provide a proper brief.

That line about ‘the story we hit on’ from the JL rep, those are not her words, they were words from the ad agency as they set the scene, reiterated (changed) the brief. It’s all such a fucking cliche.

@FreeBritnee

I quite like that ad 😳

Why?

@GoodnightGrandma

He needs to go on the naughty step. I hope he was made to clean up.

Umm you do realise it's an advert and he was paid to do it?

It's a fucking dreadful advert, but I hope both the kids had fun making it!

Awful- ridiculous advert

@JohnnyMcGrathSaysFuckOff

No he is not just wearing a dress. My son loves "being Anna" and acts like a normal preschooler.

This boy is pouting, strutting, being a diva and that is the point. If he were wearing wellies and fairy wings and accidentally getting mud on the carpet that would be a little boy being himself.

This kid is wearing full make up, doing duck face, and yes, trashing the house while the mum and sister cringe silently, heads down whilst their stuff is being wrecked.

It’s almost like an allegory for our times

I thought it was advertising insurance coverage for male narcissism.

WTAF is going on in our society?

Umm you do realise it's an advert and he was paid to do it?
What are you on about?

Lots of posters have commented on the advert as if the advert was a real situation. Not a single person here thinks that advert in a real life scenario that just happened to be captured on camera.

I don't suppose that was m'laddo's real mother, sister or home. They probably don't even have John Lewis house insurance.

@SpindleWhirl

How does everyone know he's a boy, btw?

Are we genuinely supposed to assume he's literally a boy in a dress? How?

He is clearly a boy in a dress, most people can tell the difference between males and females at a glance, no matter what they are wearing.

Weird, that is definately a child acting in a certain to signal something. Either way, it seems like mum and sister are being submissive in background and the boy is allowed to behave really badly but he he is just expressing hinself ??

The ad is hyperbole. It's a joke. It's cute. It's making a poing about how kids can fuck up your house and how it's not the end of the world especially if you have the insurance they're trying to sell.

I (a woman, if it matters) remember very specifically being about this kid's age, dressing up in lots of scarves and ruining putting on my mother's makeup to climb up on the kitchen island to pretend it was a stage while playing this VERY song on the record player. I broke one of the edges of the tiled countertop in the process. I also remember that my bookish cousin was absolutely shocked and refused to participate. I don't remember kicking over her little paints but I wouldn't have put it past myself.

The lot of you are so blinded by your own fears about gender and sex that you're becoming what you claim to hate. If this was a little girl smashing up the house playing cars or doing wrestling moves (which I also did - jumping off the landing on to the sofa and smashing the chandelier in the process) you'd probably be well into it but the second a boy is a little dramatic and feminine you're clutching your trans-agenda pearls like it's the end of the world. I've got a packet of grips if anyone needs one.

edigitalsurvey.com/survey/do/session/1617020b108bd522ab3e5ab8253de5dbfd59e6a0ace6de1e3245c513c77e5beb/restart_data_key/f209a66fac3bc1ac1856ea2c39f1d0d54b6df8e441dddd8d26ce691cac573598/is_entering/1

They have a website complaints form, above link, which I have filled in and sent. Don't know if it will reach anyone but at least I've tried.

I started here and followed complaints
www.johnlewis.com/customer-services/contact-us

Not seen it but sounds awful. Am I horrible/weird in thinking that JL should be encouraging good old fashioned values not being on trend and 'clever'?

I don't remember kicking over her little paints but I wouldn't have put it past myself.

I bet you don't

The first thing I thought of when I saw the boy's performance was Desmond Is Amazing GreenWhiteViolet.

That advert is well dodgy.

The lot of you are so blinded by your own fears about gender and sex that you're becoming what you claim to hate. If this was a little girl smashing up the house playing cars or doing wrestling moves (which I also did - jumping off the landing on to the sofa and smashing the chandelier in the process) you'd probably be well into it but the second a boy is a little dramatic and feminine you're clutching your trans-agenda pearls like it's the end of the world. I've got a packet of grips if anyone needs one.

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