The John Lewis Christmas advert seems like a new festive tradition that has been adopted by households across the country.
We all wait in anticipation to see how the much anticipated clip will tug at our heart strings and get us excited for tucking into some pigs in blankets as we visit family and friends. Normally the advert is filled with snow machines, cute aliens or star studded guests but this year the high street giant has gone for a more subtle, yet equally powerful approach.
John Lewis have focused on a story that explores a soon-to-be foster father and daughter which is accompanied by a quirky rendition of Blink 182’s ‘All The Small Things’ on piano. The crooner Atlanta based singer Mike Greiner’s voice can also be heard in the background as a woman chats on the phone.
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“Yeah, we can’t wait,” she says to someone on the phone as her hubby walks in behind her. “We’re really excited.”
With a skateboard in hand, her husband puts on his helmet and heads out to get the hang of the hipster skateboard. But in predictable fashion, it does not turn out as planned as her stumbles and tumbles to end up flat on his face, the Mirror reports.
His wife tries to check up on him as he decorates the home for Christmas and he of course insists that he is “fine” despite the bumps and bruises. Having put up the tree with all its decorations, a cute teddy bear can be seen sat at the bottom of the tree, before the soon to be dad heads out for another struggle on the skateboard.
“How did it go?” His wife asks again when he returns and he replies positively: “Yeah, I think I cracked it.”
Not one for giving up, the dad is then seen in his festively-clad office as he tries to master the skateboard by watching YouTube videos. He is later seen giving it a go at night which is when he becomes overjoyed at finally cracking the board and riding it properly.
A scene back at the couple’s house then appears and they hear a ring of their door bell - and the reason for why the dad had been practising so hard is revealed. A young girl, who looks nervous and anxious, stands at the door clutching a skateboard as she stands next to a social worker.
“Hey honey,” the dad says to the girl - Cassie - as she glances over at his skateboard leaning against a wall behind him. He shrugs nonchalantly. “Oh, I skate a bit too.”
After being invited into the home, young Cassie is able to bond with her foster parents.
The idea behind the advert is to try to highlight children who are in care over Christmas, it is a simple yet sweet advert that tries to steer away from the cloying and often sickly Christmas feel that festive ads easily fall into. It is understood that the budget for the ad was considerably less than that of their 2018 advert that featured music icon Elton John.
“No big special effects, no snow machines,” Rosie Hanley, John Lewis’ Head of Brand and Marketing, tells us. “We were very thoughtful about making sure that the cost of this production was very suitable to the environment that we’re in.”
“The ethos of the ad is what you do matters most,”Claire Pointon, Director of Customer, adds. “It’s very much the ethos of what you do with children - it’s what you do matters most. It’s a story of kindness. It’s a very different tone for us but we’re very excited for the future.”
John Lewis shot the ad in London and worked with charities Action for Children and Who cares? Scotland to ensure that children in care were at the forefront of the campaign - which they expect to last beyond Christmas.
There are 108,000 children growing up in care in the UK and they are three times more likely to be homeless than attend university.It’s a startling statistic that John Lewis themselves are hoping to combat through a long-term plan of action by providing employment opportunities to those in care through work experience placements and schemes.
“In care, the children are really neglected but - actually - the sector is neglected,” Ceira Thom, Head of Personnel, says.
“There are very few companies or national charities working in this space. So what was really important to us is one, we worked with charities with credibility and a passion and determination to improve the lives of children and adults who are care-experienced.
“Action for Children is one of their critical pillars and Who Cares? Scotland are a smaller charity but are care-experienced specific. They have a huge reach across Scotland so the charity partners compliment everything that we want and route back to everything that we want to do.”
As well as being able to purchase a range of products, including a skateboard, customers will be able to donate money to the charities via ‘Giving Trees’ in store by taking a tag from the tree with a value of between £5 - £50 and scan it with their shop.
Products available for purchase (of which 25 per cent of sales go to charity) include:
Lewis Bear £30
Lewis Bear pyjamas £19
Lewis Bear tote bag £5
Lewis Bear Chocolate slims £5,
Lewis Bear Bauble Head £5
Rampage Skateboard £34.99
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