I came across this video the other day and was completely captivated. Even forgot that it was an ad I got so caught up.
Maybe it’s just that I could really relate to this little boy just willing time to pass. Watch till the end – the twist will melt you.
Comments
45 Comments so far
Sia – you don’t seem to get it: it’s not ‘one tiny thing’: it’s a whole year of going without pocket money, of going to so much trouble to secretly pay the layby off, of repressing the excitement and thrill of knowing how much his mother will just love the most beautiful things he’s ever seen . . . .
I think it’s an indictment of how Christmas is built up to become the acme of our giftgiving expression – I much prefer to give people things all during the year, to show them that THEY’RE special, not the day!!
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Amaazing !
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is is bad that my eyes welled up?
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Oh that’s SO CUTE!!
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Beautiful!
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Got me, hook, line and sinker. Gorgeous.
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This is so beautiful. Loved it.
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I LOVE this. I am all for having my heartstrings pulled by appropriately melancholic yet hopeful music. And John Lewis, it’s been almost 2 years since I saw you and I still miss you.
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What real family gets to sleep in till 8am on Christmas morning?
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One with grown kids….
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Mine! I grew up under the “no getting up until 8am” rule and I’ve enforced it with my kids. It’s made a little easier by keeping them up until 11 pm at the family Christmas party the night before. I love being able to have a shower and coffee before the present opening. Waiting makes everything nicer imho.
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Awwwwww!
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I prefer this version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FSZKzwF2yGs
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This is soooooo beautiful I can’t believe it’s an ad.! I’ve put it on my Facebook because it’s precious and because it turns the Christmas notion on its head. Christmas about giving and not about receiving? Wow! Thanks for finding it and posting it *blinks back tears*.
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The tradition of great British Christmas adverts is alive and well… John Lewis always have the most tear-jerking (see 2010′s … it was beautiful!!).
Quite often the songs used in the ads become chart toppers as well. I love it!
xx
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ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! CUTE ATTACK!
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my sister sent me this video a few days ago when i was having a shit day and it made me smile. It’s a beautiful sentiment.
xxxmissvxxx.wordpress.com
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I feel like ads like these rely too much on the music to provoke emotion.
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I agree… BUT… I watched it with no sound the first time and still ended up in tears.
That could be the pregnancy hormones running rampant though.
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I also watched it without sound and was very moved
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That’s not a bad thing though. Music is very powerful.
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Nope! My speakers are playing up and I still watched it with no sound – still cute
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it was that smile on his face as he held out the present that did it for me!!!!!!!!
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This is absolutely lovely. I was rather teary at the end. Also I’m a huge Smiths fan and I thought this was a nice cover.
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Adorable!
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haha this is perfect timing, I gave my boyfriend his xmas present last week because I couldn’t wait any longer!
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I can relate to this child so much!! I have the BEST gift for my boyfriend, currently still in auction on eBay. How am I going to keep the secret till Christmas?!
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This is lovely. I found myself getting teary at the end.
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Me too! Lana made me watch the clip and I was all “yeah, yeah, whatever” and then it got to the end and I loved it!
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Teary?! I am properly crying!
Love that ad so much. At the risk of sounding soppy, I love it when I see my own children and others who have that real generosity of spirit in them. It doesn’t even have to be them giving a gift, but just seeing how that have empathy or want to do something kind for someone else. Gets me every time….
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Teary here as well!
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Love this, however it makes me think of a terrible story I know.
A friend of the family is a real bah humbug when it comes to Christmas – all because of this situation. When he was a little boy, he saw 4 red glass wine glasses in the window of a shop in town. He though they were the most beautiful thing in the world and came to a layby arrangement with the lady who owned the shop so that he could buy them for him Mum’s birthday.
He saved every penny and put it towards them but didn’t have enough by her birthday, so he kept going, determined to give them to her for Christmas. By Christmas he still didn’t have quite enough but the shop lady was so impressed by his determination that she told him he had paid enough and she gift wrapped the box.
So Christmas arrived and hugely proud of the gift he had saved all year for, he presented it to his mother. “That’s nice” she said “put them in the cupboard”. That was it. And to this day (he is 75) he is down on Christmas.
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Oh, that’s so sad.
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Gosh, that is terribly sad. Enough to ruin the magic of Christmas, forever.
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Wow thats heartbreakingly sad…
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That is awfully sad! I’m 20 years old and when I was younger I gave my parents all sorts of strange things over the years (one present being something I’d drawn on a large stone) and they always made me feel like I’d nailed it.
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That’s awful! I have very clear visions of that whole scenario, heartbreaking.
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So he’s let 65-or-so Christmases be ruined by one thing his mother did one time? After all those years, he’s still using this one tiny thing as an excuse to dislike Christmas? Blah. His fault, not hers. His choice.
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John Lewis have been called out on using that song – as Neola said, butchered is a word that has been bandied about a lot!
It’s a great advert though and one I can relate to!
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This cover (by Slow Moving Millie) actually had Morrissey’s blessing for the John Lewis ad and he was said to have been ‘very happy’ with the finished product.
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Lana, I love it. John Lewis often nails it.
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I watched this three times in a row! Loved, loved, loved it. I can so relate to that feeling of being super excited to give someone a present that I know they’ll love.
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So sweet!
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Lovely idea for an ad – wish they hadn’t butchered The Smiths song, though!
Wish I’d thought of the concept – would be brilliant used for a cause/charity rather than a gift store.
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tears at work!
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