For those of you who -- like me -- had never heard of John Lewis, I'll explain what I was able to infer from the video itself and some of the many critique videos that I watched: John Lewis is major department store brand in the UK, and its annual Christmas ads get a lot of attention. A parallel might be the Super Bowl ads that certain big brands invest in. People pay that much attention to them and usually applaud their creative vision.
As I'm an American, it's not something that was on my radar, but I follow some accounts based in the UK who shared X posts about it like this one:
And this one with its embedded video review:
My own take is somewhat different.
Deck the Halls with Jane Austen
by Totally_Jane_Austen
The magic ex machina solution doesn't work
Yes, the rude and ungracious grandchildren who seem intent on trashing their grandmother's home are irritating, and one wishes the parents did show more involvement. Sad to say, this is utterly realistic. I recently saw just that style behavior when some kids pretty close to the age of the kids featured in the advert were dragged along with their parents on a tour.
I don't have a problem with realism or even representation that might not be completely realistic, so long as it is still feasible. What I do have a problem with is a completely disjoined narrative that mixes wishful thinking, cluelessness, and magic into the realism in an incomprehensible way.
These are the issues in order of appearance:
1. When told by her daughter that the children need something to do, the grandmother goes to fetch a box of toys that includes her favorite, a pull-toy dog named Pickles. What would make a grandmother who is not yet at the stage of senility think that a toddler toy would appeal to her grandchildren who appear to be about 7? Is it because it talks to her? Had she revealed that, they would likely have at least tried to test out its conversational ability. But she seems to keep its magical ability a secret. Why?
2. Pickles is the one who tells the grandmother not to put the cash (that the children end up looking for) into their cards but to find the right gift that will arouse the same reaction in them that receiving Pickles had aroused in her. In fact, kids of that age don't typically look for cash in cards, as they still expect to receive the actual gift they want. That is particularly true if they are there in-person on Christmas and not just getting the card in the mail.
3. The grandmother listens to Pickles and takes him along to stores -- that are amazingly all still open on what should be the night of Christmas. She picks up a few things, drops one and breaks it, but doesn't find anything that will appeal to her grandchildren. Defeated, she summons a taxi to take her home. This is not a normal taxi but something made of purple light. While riding in it, the grandmother takes in the lights on the streets. We are meant to infer that this is her inspiration.
In additional to the magical dog that grandmother possesses, she must have some kind of time machine that allows her to slip out of her home, get to the shops, get her purple light taxi back to set up that room, and then get back into the living room as if she's never been away.
4. The advert cuts to the grandmother placidly sitting in her living room while handing over the cards to her grandchildren. They rudely shake them out, looking for the cash. She smiles while she holds up a large key then leads them to a whimsically decked-out room. Supposedly, this truly enchants these kids, and they frolic and dance about, even reaching out to hold their grandmother's hands.
THIS WOULD NEVER HAPPEN IN REAL LIFE.
If the grandmother had that time machine that gave her those hours to set up the room that way, it's possible the children would ooh and ah over it for a minute. But they would quickly lose interest and look for another video, game, while also asking where their presents are. Kids today are not content to lose themselves in a holiday display for an hour and consider that experience their Christmas gift.
Never believe a talking toy dog, especially one devised by a retailer who claims you can buy that holiday feeling you remember having as a kid and recreate it for a kid today by just buying the right accessories in some moments out of time.
That is not in the least bit believable. I know that the retailer has aimed for magical in the past with wholly animated spots that people found charming. That can work because you create a certain world with its own way of working. Interposing that magic on this world with its jaded kids doesn't. And that's the real reason why this marketing approach fails.
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