BACK TO NEWSJohn Lewis has swept aside the fake snow, the celebrities and even the cute pets for a back to basics Christmas ad which raises awareness of young people in care.
The department store’s annual campaign, a TV moment that has kickstarted the festive season in the UK for more than a decade, focuses this year on a middle-aged man’s efforts to prepare for the arrival of a new foster daughter – Ellie – by trying to share her passion for skateboarding.
Thought to have cost about £7m including payment for TV and online slots, the ad is in complete contrast to last year’s big-budget production which featured a crash-landing alien girl, following a similar formula to a string of John Lewis ads from the Hare and the Bear in 2013 to Monty the Penguin in 2014 and 2019’s Excitable Edgar the dragon – relying on cute characters that draw millions of viewers online.
