andy-wood.biz

You've probably already seen it, and no doubt with the amount of noise both on and offline, you will have most probably heard about it too.

This year's John Lewis Christmas TV ad was pushed out over the weekend and sees an excitable young chap unable to sleep on Christmas Eve, not because he can't wait to open his presents but more to give out his presents to Mum and Dad.

Much of the talk has been that the ad is boring and predictable. I can see where people are coming from. It is very "John Lewis". Beautifully filmed on a soft lense within a lovely semi-detached, Edwardian property: a young family is surrounded by the silky tones of Slow Moving Millie performing The Smiths "Please, Please, Please let me get what I want".

It is a good continuation of last year's ad which featured Ellie Goulding's "Your Song" however with Marks & Spencers also going down the softly, softly route this year with their dreadful ad featuring the X Factor contestants it could get a bit lost. Fortunately, thanks to the press on the Smiths cover version and the reported £6 million budget (which I would imagine would include the cost of buying the media, which considering the slots I've seen being used, is reasonable) it has had good exposure.

What I do love about this ad is the proposition"for gifts you can't wait to give". So simple, yet such a brilliant piece of thinking. Where the narrative of a lot of ads is on receive, receive, receive, this proposition is not only refreshing but places emphasis on taking the time to consider what you are buying for loved ones, and hey why not go the extra mile and spend a bit extra.

The ad has already had over half a million hits on YouTube, surpassing its Christmas 2010 effort, which received 460,000 hits over 11 months!

The ad was created by Adam & Eve