Voice of London

Department store chain John Lewis & Partners have released their 2018 Christmas advert, in a modern tradition widely seen as the unofficial start of the festive season.

John Lewis & Partners’ master marketeers have, for the last decade, tugged on the nation’s heartstrings with their annual Christmas campaigns aimed at making John Lewis stores synonymous with Christmas shopping.

Their new advert eschews the traditional softly-sung cover versions of famous songs with Elton John, singing his seminal anthem Your Song – keen John Lewis advert fans will note this was previously covered by Ellie Goulding for the 2010 John Lewis ad.

The whistle-stop tour of Elton John’s piano-playing career is certainly emotive, but has had a mixed reaction from the public:

Some have bemoaned the lack of a “christmassy” feel to the advert, when previous years have largely centred around families and children at christmas, or winter-oriented themes like snowmen.

Others loved the advert, and it’s no surprise: according to the Guardian, John Lewis & Partners’ marketing team sifted through 300 potential scripts before settling on their campaign, hoping that national treasure Elton John could provide a much-needed boost to John Lewis’ retail fortunes.

In September, John Lewis & Partners reported a 99% dive in profits. At the time, the retailer said: “With the level of uncertainty facing consumers and the economy, in part due to ongoing Brexit negotiations, forecasting is particularly difficult but we continue to expect full year profits to be substantially lower than last year for the partnership as a whole.”

This year’s advert has also been criticised as a perceived promotion for Elton John’s final world tour, scheduled to begin in 2019, and the Elton John biopic, Rocketman starring Taron Egerton, which is also due to release in next year.

The #EltonJohnLewis advert can be watched below:

 

Featured Image: Courtesy of John Lewis 

Words: Matthew Hall | Subbing: Shruti Tangirala