Did the John Lewis ad make you cry or are you dead inside? “Messed me up”, “Hefty sobbing”, “Proper tears” were among the comments on this year’s gentle, understated story of a man preparing for his foster daughter’s arrival by learning to skateboard.
It’s lovely (and John Lewis supports an employment programme for care leavers, so it’s not empty emotional manipulation). But this tradition of retailers setting a relatable story to slowed-down pop to punch us in the kidneys with manufactured feeling is weird. I understand it from their perspective – they’re not-so-subtly selling the warm, fuzzy feeling that they get us. But with so much real sadness around, why has this ersatz emotion become a seasonal event? Are we, as a nation, OK?
