by Rebecca Emerton
I’m sure most of you have seen the John Lewis adverts,
not only this year’s emotional journey of the man on the moon (which, I hasten
to add, I cried about for a solid three minutes in the middle of the Sixth Form Centre) but every other year filling us with that confusing mixture of ‘Aww’
and ‘I want to just sob now for the rest of the day and tell my Mum that I love
her’. But this is precisely the point of these adverts that signify the
beginning of Christmas every year. I have decided that I slightly love and hate
them at the same time.
John Lewis steer away from the conventional, overly
Christmassy adverts like the boy running after the Coca-Cola truck or the
extremely annoying yet memorable voice from the woman in the M&S adverts:
because, of course, who wouldn't want a normal Christmas pudding when you can
have ‘an M&S Christmas pudding’? As we all understand already, Christmas is
commonly advertised as the ‘season to be jolly’ and to spend precious time with
your family – yet John Lewis appear to take this one step further. Very rarely
are words spoken in any of these adverts, yet a magical moral is portrayed
without so much as a notion to those cheesy voiceovers in most products being displayed
on TV.
So why is it that John Lewis manage to stir the emotions
of so many people?
Every year, they are able to portray not only the idea
of family and the affection between them, but each character in the short story
portrayed puts in that extra effort to please someone else in a purely innocent
and selfless way. For example: the boy creating a present for his parents, the
two romantic snowmen, the hare and the bear spending time together, or the boy’s
little penguin friends, and most recently the little girl sending a telescope
to a man on the moon with no other people on there with him. Perhaps it sparks a sense of guilt in each viewer and
a prayer is sent to those who own little, or are less fortunate than others. I
know my concerns for homeless people especially increase around this time of
year in the cold and lonely conditions that contrast so heavily with what I
believe Christmas to be all about.
Enhanced by the theme songs, the adverts succeed in
portraying the message of thinking of others without use of a heartfelt plea
being played romantically over the top, and every time it leaves the viewer
covered in goose bumps. It is also made unique by the fact that besides the
name ‘JOHN LEWIS’ at the end of the advert, not once does it try to advertise any
of its products, which immediately makes it stand out from the rest of the
adverts so carelessly scattered on the TV. It presents a sense of dignity and
class in its ability to convey the message so successfully without need for
reaching out desperately to every consumer to buy their newest Christmas themed
this or that.
True, their technique causes you to remember the brand
successfully (and the waiting for the John Lewis Christmas advert has become an
annual count down in my household and many others), but they are remembered for
all the correct reasons, and I hope that it successfully encourages people to
think a little more about the important things in life this Christmas.
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