John Lewis, Tesco, Amazon go for tear-jerkers, as others find Christmas fun
John Lewis, Tesco, Amazon go for tear-jerkers, as others find Christmas fun
The festive season is getting under way again, and so too is the battle of the Christmas adverts.
John Lewis has become the latest retailer to beam its festive message into UK homes.
The advert, released on Thursday, is a whimsical journey through one woman's memories as she tries to find the perfect Christmas gift for her sister.
Set to Richard Ashcroft's 1990s track Sonnet, the ad is a "real tear-jerker" and suggests the retailer wanted to "return to its roots", analysts said.
"Most of this year's festive adverts have fun at their heart - gnomes taking over Asda, a mystery whodunit at Waitrose, the welcome return of Kevin the Carrot at Aldi," said retail expert Catherine Shuttleworth.
But John Lewis has hit a "more traditional" feel, she added, after last year’s advert proved divisive.
Its 2023 commercial featured a giant Venus flytrap. It left some viewers perplexed, as they questioned what a bloodthirsty plant had to do with Christmas.
In this year's John Lewis advert, the heroine, Sally, is seen frantically doing last-minute shopping for her sister.
She falls through a rack of dresses and finds herself in a fantastical world, where she revisits moments in her life - from childhood through to teenage years and adulthood.
There are no recognisable celebrities in the advert, something Charlotte Lock, customer director at John Lewis, told the BBC was deliberate.
"We get contacted every year by A-listers who want to be in our ad," she said.
"We always have the conversation, but what we didn't want was that celebrity to overtake the story."
It's still only mid-November, but the John Lewis advert is one of the last Christmas adverts to be released.
For retailers, capturing the mood of the nation is always a challenge, especially given that the ads are planned months in advance.
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Ms Lock said they felt people wanted "a bit of emotion and sentimentality" after "a tough year, with global conflict and an economic crisis".
"The cost of living is still on people's minds, and people are concerned about the cost of Christmas," she said.
"It feels like there's a nation that's quite exhausted and actually has been waiting to celebrate, and Christmas is a great outlet for that," she added.
