John Lewis has just unveiled their Christmas ad for the year. Usually, one of the most highly anticipated festive ads of the season, this year’s offering is all about giving love and while the sentiment is nice, the ad itself hasn’t really done it for viewers with many saying it’s their least favourite one to date.
Crossing over from real life into cartoon world, the ad starts with a young boy trying to retrieve his football from a tree. Helped by a passing friend, the boy continues on his merry way, with each person down the line paying on the good deed. Inspired by people’s random acts of kindness during the pandemic, the song Give A Little Love (sung by Celeste) plays in the background as it encourages viewers to do just that this Christmas time.
Positively famous for their Christmas ads, previous years have seen the likes of Lily Allen, Ellie Goulding and Tom Odell lend their voices to the soundtrack – each regularly named as some of the public’s favourites.
Lifting the curtain on this year’s edition last night, a message shared by John Lewis & Partners explaining the idea reads:
“We believe that the world would be a better place if we all gave a little more love. So this year we’re celebrating kindness, whether large or small, showing how each and every act of love has a positive impact on the world around us, as we pass them on to others.”
Using the opportunity to fundraise for their chosen charities, they’re hoping to raise a combined £5million for families who need food, comfort and emotional support this Christmas.
Reacting to the 2020 ad on Twitter, people haven’t necessarily taken to it very well with the general sentiment seeming to be that it’s not their finest.
I didn’t think 2020 could get much worse but @jlandpartners just gave us the worst advert in the history of adverts. #johnlewischristmasadvert
— Joe (@HEJoe94) November 13, 2020
Me after watching the #johnlewischristmasadvert pic.twitter.com/7oeONQVXuk
— Maisie Thornton (@maisie_thornton) November 13, 2020
https://twitter.com/Eve06043238/status/1327179075144839168
It’s 2020, a really tough year and John Lewis have just given us their worst Christmas advert to date. #johnlewischristmasadvert
— Ashleigh – The Ashmosphere (@theashmosphere) November 13, 2020
https://twitter.com/IvanHFY/status/1327180052216287232
Irish retailer SuperValu also revealed their Christmas ad yesterday which went down an absolute treat with viewers. It’s a tearjerker though so best have the tissues handy if you haven’t seen it yet. More on that here.
