JOHN Lewis has gone all touchy-feely with its Christmas ad this year as encourages Brits to do something nice for others.
The Give A Little Love ad, which is a joint effort with Watirose, features different acts of kindness through nine different live action and animation scenes.
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It starts with a little girl wearing specs and a yellow raincoat helping a boy get his football down from the tree, using a heart umbrella.
The little boy then aids a snowman fly away who then helps a family get their car going.
The final moment is a kind-hearted nurse on a bus who gives a heart-shaped sticker on her apple and gives it to a little girl to mend her specs.
In total there are X acts of kindness involving a heart in one way or another, helping to form a chain reaction of joy and happiness.
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The Give A Little Love ad is different to any other campaign that John Lewis has done and this is because the retailer recognises that this year is like no other.
The two minute advert features different forms of moving art – from animation and claymation to CGI and cinematography.
Eight artists helped create the different scenes, including Chris Hopewell, who has created music videos for Radiohead and Franz Ferdinand, and French animator Sylvian Chomet.
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John Lewis said the reason behind this was because it wanted to support the creative industry, which has been one of the hardest hit during the pandemic.
John Lewis normally starts the ad in February – but this year held off until June due to Covid.
The retailer said it has questioned whether it would be appropriate to make an ad at all this year.
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But it decided to go ahead to help raise awareness for its charity partners.
They hope that the ad will help raise £4million for two charities – FairShare, which helps stop food poverty and Home-Start, which works with parents who need support.
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It has pledged to match all customer donations up to £2 million.
There are a number of other ways to donate, including buying merchandise and downloading the charity single.
A range of ‘Give A Little Love’ merchandise, including a heart shaped umbrella like the one in the ad, go on sale today, on Waitrose and John Lewis websites and in their shops, with all profits going to the appeal.
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The ad launches on National Kindness Day tomorrow during the and is based on the pay it forward idea – if we all do something kind for someone else and the do the same the world is a better place.
The Give A Little Love ad also has some firsts for the retailers – their first done mostly via Zoom and the first to include an original song by British soul singer Celeste.
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For every download of the single, 10p will go to the charity campaign.
It’s also the first time they’ve had more than one ad.
A second complimentary 30 second ad, which was created with post-graduate students from Kingston University, which supports the campaign.
As with previous ads it was created by advertising agency adam&eveDDB.
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It cost less to make then previous ads – which are typically about £1million – but John Lewis will still spend around £5million.
The adverts – which went live on social media channels at 7am this morning – will first be broadcast on TV tomorrow evening during ‘The Voice’ on ITV.
James Bailey, from Waitrose, said: “Each year festive adverts come and go – and some are remembered more vividly than others. But our advertising this year will leave a lasting legacy – and in that way, we hope it won’t just be for Christmas.”
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John Lewis executive director Pippa Wicks said: “We recently set out our ambition for our business to be a force for good – so we decided that this year was the year to break the mould and do something different.
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“We have a long tradition of helping support the communities which we serve, so, as we launch one of the best-loved assets, our Christmas ad, it’s fitting to take this one step further by working hand in hand with two incredible charities supporting families in need.”
It comes after a testing year for the John Lewis Partnership, which has cut around 2,800 jobs since the start of the pandemic as it closed eight stores and reduced its head office workforce.
In September, the group also told staff they would not receive a bonus for the first time since 1953 after it dived to a £635 million pre-tax loss for the six months to July, following a £470 million write-down on its stores.
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