Ohmigosh I could talk all day about Christmas adverts. And the John Lewis ones in particular. I’m such a sucker for a well produced ad and although some may disagree, I reckon John Lewis have nailed it again this year with Moz the Monster. (Buy him quick folks. In 2014 John Lewis sold out of their Monty the Penguins within 24 hours and I was astonished to see that the waddly little guy and his lady friend Mabel are still going for £300 on Ebay).
But over to you. Do you reckon John Lewis still reigns supreme when it comes to Christmassy ads? Or do the likes of Sainsbury’s and their WW1 tribute, Coca Cola and their sparkly trucks, or Toys R Us and their Geoffrey the Giraffe jingle get your vote? Either way, I know which tune you’re going to be singing all day…
Which is your favourite Christmas ad?
There’s a lot of criticism for Moz – I too was a bit 🤔 initially; its somehow not as relatable or immediately heartwarming as previous ads. But once I realised it was a Gondry directed thing, the off – kilter, intentional uneasiness made sense to me and I saw it in a different light. Also, Golden Slumbers is the lullaby my Mum has sung to Fern (and to me) since she was born and the dawning realisation on Ferns face when she was watching the advert and realised what she was listening to was quite magical.
I think our expectations are so high, it’s silly really, but understandable, we all crave that reassuring familiarity of an annual feels-boost and the JL Xmas ad has become integral to that.
Nothing will ever come close to being 8 months pregnant and hormonally overloaded when Monty the penguin dropped. All my hopes and dreams for a magical childhood full of imagination and wonder for my unborn child were summed up in those 3 minutes. I happened to be in the store (mat leave) as the Montys were being delivered to the shop floor and bagged one there and then. Fern has him next to her pillow to this day and I watched the advert with her for the first time last week. Omg BAWLING 😭. She was like “ermmmmm?” 😂
I thought it was poor. The ‘fake’ fox and the mouse that was released to coincide with the M & S release stunk to me. Very unChristmassy. Not cool JL. Play fair. It’s Christmas. Its like the PR went to their heads.
Also the best ad of all time will forever be ‘please let me give what I want’. Alllll the feels. I have the CD they released for charity of all the songs and shamefully that song has about worn out.
Found the Moz the Monster ad underwhelming (man we are all critics now eh?) but for me they haven’t conjured the fuzzy, teary eyed emotions since Monty and Mabel and I also loved the snowman shopper one and the ‘let me get what I want one 😭. Hate M&S one too- think it’s tacky to do a film tie in personally. The House of Fraser one is ok with the sisters (like to see the fun and shimmer chosen sometimes over heart string tugging) and Tesco where people are cooking their dinners. If the point of the ads is to encourage us to shop there they’ve all lost that on me. If the aim is to make us feel festive, nostalgic and misty eyed then I’m off to YouTube…
I absolutely love the hare and the bear ad that John Lewis did a few years back.
And this years ad, not doing it for me 🙁
I’m afraid to say JL is not doing it for me but neither have either of their last few years ads. Having worked in advertising for the best part of 10 years I get why they go all out but for me the creatives have got caught up in creating something wow with the CGI elements rather than capturing the Christmas magic and I think it’s just a little bit lost. So much money to spend on an ad too. The M&S one feels a bit more christmassy but agree with Lou that I don’t like the film tie in. Where’s the Christmas jingles, santa clause and a few flying reindeer?!! xxx
This is what Xmas ads should be – http://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/0/the-10-best-christmas-adverts-of-all-time/
All festive and lovely. Including the good old classic JL.
x
Aw lovely link I shall watch these later!
My favourite adverts I’ve seen so far are Aldi – the carrot saying ‘I’ve been pea’d on’ is funny lol and I really like Very’s Christmas advert too!
I don’t mind the JL advert, I’ve read a lot of negative comments about Moz the monster and that children will now think that there is a monster under the bed etc.. I’ve watched the advert with both my children ( 6 and 3) and they weren’t bothered by it.
I also think the Waitrose one is lovely, and has all the Christmas feels you need! (Although in a power cut I hope they had a gas oven and hob to cook all the dinner lol!). X
I downloaded the JL ad on Sky so I could check it out. Such is the level of my Christmas obsession. I quite liked it. However, immediately following it Sky had sneaked in an ad for their movie package. It was a woman watching The Sound of Music with her little girl, and it followed them through the years (teen embarrassed by her mum, absent due to world travel in her 20’s etc) until at the end the daughter is a mum herself and they’re watching it as a threesome with the granddaughter. Cliched? Probably. Original? Not overly. Did I cry? Yes, of course. 😂
The sky one is my favourite this year. Probably because my daughter was born this year and me and my mum love the sound of music. I definitely cried!!
Oh my God. All the tears with the Sky advert!!!
I’ll come straight out with it. I cry at everything. Yet when one single article has had me in tears pre 8am I have to hand it to them. Thanks The Guardian for my emotional journey this morning. A review of all JL Christmas adverts… https://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/nov/10/john-lewis-christmas-ads-2016-buster-main-in-the-moon I still think the little boy desperate to give his gift is the biggest heartbreaker, and the bear and the hear… don’t even get me started xxx
Also worth a mention, for all the wrong reasons, the Peacocks Christmas ad featuring Honey G and Jedward 🙊.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_jju_g0XOPE
My 4 yr old watched it and now she has me checking the whole room for monsters before bed 😡
She says although it was a friendly monster it looked a bit scary!
So much overthinking in my exhausted brain about this advert… like is it a weird metaphor for the sleep deprivation supposedly caused by children having access to electronics? Is the monster especially designed to prevent knock offs- so you could buy a penguin cuddly toy not at JL but you won’t find Moz anywhere else? How many people will complain about their little ones having nightmares! Did anyone else have a hideous school library book called “the ankle grabber”??? The trauma!
Not a fan of any Christmas ads seen so far… the worst is the sub Frozen one with the wolf disappearing over the waterfall like Shadow in Homeward Bound. Obviously the ad company and their fevered pressured minds turned to their childhoods…
The please let me get what I want JL advert hits hard for me as it was released about when we found out our dog had a fatal genetic disease. All I wanted was him to be better. It didn’t happen and he was put to sleep on the 27th December that year.