John Lewis is hoping that a dash of nostalgia will get consumers into the festive mood this year as it kick-starts the countdown to Christmas with the launch of its 2025 advert to the tune of the 1990s club classic Where Love Lives.
The British department store chain is appealing to ageing clubbers – and their teenage kids – with this year’s ad focused on a middle-aged dad transported back to his clubbing days after receiving a vinyl record from his son.
The John Lewis Christmas advert arrives 10 days earlier than last year’s after a general shift towards an earlier Christmas launch in recent years by rivals including Marks & Spencer and the big supermarkets.
For the second year in a row the John Lewis ad, created by the agency Saatchi & Saatchi, has swerved the young children and cute characters it has previously focused on, such as Monty the penguin and Buster the boxer, to highlight the power of family relationships.
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It shows the dad on the dance floor, dreaming of seeing his teenage son across the room, then thinking back to embracing him as a small child and a baby before it cuts back to the livingroom and the pair hug as the music reignites their bond.
The 1990s club classic Where Love Lives by Alison Limerick provides the soundtrack, which segues into a slower new version by the British singer and producer Labrinth.
In the past 15 years the John Lewis Christmas ad has become a moment in the UK, marking the beginning of the festive shopping binge. Previous festive promotions have been soundtracked by a string of covers including the Smiths song Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want and Together in Electric Dreams by Giorgio Moroder and Philip Oakey. Last year’s ad featured Richard Ashcroft singing his song Sonnet. – Guardian
