I WAS rooting for you, John Lewis. I wanted it to be great. My heartstrings were primed for being tugged on. I had a box of tissues at the ready.
But it simply didn't happen thanks to what is a crushingly contrived Christmas ad that was clearly staking everything on us being wowed and dazzled by the star quality of Sir Elton John.
If you haven't seen it yet, the commercial traces Sir Elton's musical roots – with some poetic licence – back to the Christmas gift of a piano the singer received in the early 1950s.
The ad is bookended by Sir Elton performing Your Song in what is supposed to be his childhood London home. We see snapshots of him in different settings: on stage, in a dressing room, a recording studio and tentatively tickling the ivories at a school piano recital.
On first viewing it immediately seemed oddly familiar. Then it clicked. It was like watching the trailer for the forthcoming Rocketman biopic in reverse. Although sadly without a winking Richard Madden.
The Boy and The Piano, as it is titled, feels less like a clever plug for a department store than it does shameless marketing for a musician with tickets to punt for a farewell tour. This is not the John Lewis show; it has been hijacked by Sir Elton John.
Believe me, defending the annual John Lewis Christmas ad is a hill I have happily died on in the past. I cried openly at the 2012 instalment, The Journey, where a snowman trekked across treacherous landscapes to find the perfect scarf and glove set for his snowlady.
I adored the little boy beside himself with excitement about giving a gift to his parents (2011's offering The Long Wait) and lovelorn Monty the Penguin (2014) is one of my all-time favourites.
Ditto the unlikely animal friendship of The Bear And The Hare (2013) with its soundtrack of Lily Allen singing Somewhere Only We Know.
Things went a bit off the boil with Man on the Moon (2015) – which had the low point of being dubbed "Moon Hitler" by detractors – and it's been pretty much damp squibs from John Lewis ever since.
Buster the Boxer dog bouncing on a trampoline (2016) fell as flat as a pancake and Moz the Monster dozing under the bed (2017) smacked of someone trying to whip up a batch of Christmas cookies from an heirloom family recipe when they had forgotten half the ingredients.
As for Sir Elton's festive trip down memory lane? I really wanted to like it. I have watched it on a loop hoping to feel something. But nothing. Not even a teeny tiny tear.
I'm sorry John Lewis but it's time to relinquish the crown. King of the Christmas ads no more.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel