It Doesn’t Matter What We Think About The John Lewis Ad…

‘It’s not as good as last year’s…’

‘I’m not sure what I think about the story. They’re running out of ideas.’

‘I think John Lewis should come up with a new approach’.

You will hear plenty of these types of comments over the next week. But note, these conversations will happen within your agency, in the trade press and on your LinkedIn feed.

That doesn’t, however, mean that this reflects how the nation feels about the campaign. Kids are still going to love it. This weekend, Moz the Monster will make its way to the top of Christmas lists across the UK. Elbow’s cover of Golden Slumber will still make its way to Christmas #1. Mums and Dads in Slough and Stoke will watch it with joy and a smile on their face. It’s a sweet ad, why wouldn’t you. And, even your mates in the pub will be chatting about it.

And it’s times like these when we have to realise… our opinions don’t matter. Not really.

Sure, the campaign may feel a little formulaic (child, cover song, emotional story, buyable character) and in my personal opinion, I was hoping for some more humour (from any Christmas ad, to be fair)… But that’s the winning formula of the Great British Christmas ad. It’s what the people want. It’s what they wait for every year. It’s what the Daily Mail want to write about.

And who are we to judge?

David Austin is Senior Planner at iris