John Lewis Christmas Advert

It reminded me of something a wise headteacher (of the village school in Cumbria that my DCs went to) once said - that children's minds weren't vessels to be filled, but lamps to be lit.

Janeainsworth what a great saying! I'll try and remember that.

I would think more of a company if they spent the money on children's charities, and showed the true spirit of Christmas.
Nobody needs to see these huge productions in order to buy presents.

Christmas is commercialised - yes it really is. It doesn't mean that those of us who see the Christmas story as an essential part of celebrating can't continue to do that.

Elton donated £5m to charity as a result of this advert. what's not to appreciate. You don't have to admire Elton, or like his music to recognise that is a fair chunk of money that the charities wouldn't otherwise have received.

I'm waiting for the Bah Humbug approach to Christmas to hit me. Frankly my dears, I hope it never does.

I agree missadventure, well said. However i am the sort who is put off by "celebrities" trying to sell stuff because all i think about is they have plenty why not give the job to someone else , plenty out there in need of a job opportunity without it being aided by some special scheme sponsored by a big company.

When I grew up, almost everyone had an old piano in the house ( never tuned!) so we made sure that we had one when our children were growing up too, which they enjoyed plonking on.Sadly no real interest in it though ( no budding Elton Johns in spite of piano lessons)
It’s a good message though, it could be anything, books, painting essentials etc.something other than plastic hero figures or games, something that may spark a lifelong interest.

However, it’s still a sales pitch, so does it translate to sales I wonder?

I don't think they would do it, otherwise.

All over the country parents are going through their childrens Christmas wish list with a red pen ?

Yes, they have their customer ‘fan base’ ...food from Waitrose and other things from the JL store, but what about attracting other customers, would it make you more inclined to buy from them?Just wondering.

I'm a bit confused about the donating to charity thing. Considering the clips of Elton John were already in existence, what work did he actually do to earn that much money? Was it just royalties? It all sounds very generous of him, but then he has more money than he knows what to do with anyway, so it's not as if he needs it. I prefer to think that the money came from J L. (By the way, believe it or not I AM an Elton fan!)

All over the country parents are going through their childrens Christmas wish list with a red pen ?

Love it!!

All ours have Amazon wish lists so hard to take a red pen to
Annie

Thinking back to my grandson wanting a furby , I drove to about five cities searching, i should have got him a box of art materials or a musical instrument, naughty grannie was I. ?

Oh those flipping furbies!!!!!

We bought one for youngest AC, we were going to Center Parks for Christmas with 4 other couples and their children.
I had 2 youngest in my car and presents in the boot, we must have gone over a bump and the "furbie" woke up in the back of the car, I had to turn the radio up and sing (not good) for the last 15 miles of the journey so the "furbie" wasn't heard!!!!!!

GrannyGravy, shame on us ?. Going back to an earlier time I hunted for a puppet Emu for my younger daughter !

The days before the Internet, when we had to physically go into shops to track down that "must have gift"!!! Now all we have to do is click a button ????

Oh how I loved the days when I hunted for presents now my grandkids just opt for money it is so sterile no fun at all

Elton John is apparently donating half to charity and keeping the other half (2 and a half million) easy way to make a few millions !! Just replay bits out of your archives and get someone to put them together ummmmmmm not impressed at all

I love this advert, mainly because I love Elton's music. As I understand it, yes he is very rich, but also extremely generous with his money and his time. He's raised millions for charity, as well as helping young struggling musicians all over the world.

The year the Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles were the must-have toy, I’d gone to Woollies for the umpteenth time to stare at the empty shelves when a voice behind me said “This must be your lucky day”. An assistant had just rolled up and ripped open a huge box of the blooming creatures. He handed me one of each before I was killed in the rush.

Was it just last year I was searching in vain for Fingerlings? I saw piles of them lying sad and ignored in Aldi’s aisle of wonders this week.

ConeGirl
The Bohemian Rhapsody one wasn't a Christmas add. It was to launch the change of name and logo.
I have to say this is the worst advert I have ever seen from them and probably the most expensive.

Seems to me to be an advert for Elton John, not really a Christmas one at all. I am probably old fashioned though.

It's definitely growing on me. The little lad in his stripey jim jams is very sweet. Such a good little actor too. Lovely smile. The ad made me laugh out loud when Elton sings "not one who can easily hide" and then he looks up wearing the most ridiculous costume possible. He's got that right!

My nephew works for John Lewis and the staff saw the ad first. The main complaint is that John Lewis doesn't sell pianos.

The articles they sell are more everyday things and none of it is going to change your life, as John Lewis suggests in the advert!

purpleluthier - ah yes! I get it now. That was a very good ad. Perhaps they needed something really different to follow that.