When did John Lewis’s Christmas advert start to feel like a national institution? Perhaps it was in 2010, when Ellie Goulding covered Elton John’s “Your Song” and her voice was in everyone’s heads until Easter. Or maybe it was in 2013, when Lily Allen sang a cloying version of Keane’s “Somewhere Only We Know”, with that admittedly adorable animation of the bear and the hare. Either way, for years, the hype surrounding the JL advert has been something of a frenzy. The department store teases the press for months, lets the rumours swirl, and then when the ad is finally out, rakes in the Christmas cash. Yes, John Lewis festive ads tend to be saccharine and overrated, but was I won over by this year’s effort? Absolutely.
It’s probably quite cool to be sceptical about Christmas adverts. I really tried to be bah humbug about this one. But I couldn’t fight falling for John Lewis’s protagonist this year: Snapper, a mischievous, endearing Venus flytrap – and wannabe Christmas tree.
