Watch: John Lewis Christmas Advert for 2021 Has Been Released

John Lewis have released their latest Christmas advert, ‘An Unexpected Guest,’ 10 years after they released their first big-budget, heart-warming ad that started the trend.

Two minutes long, the new Christmas ad features an unlikely friendship (and quasi-romance) between a young boy and an alien being that lands in the forest near to his house.

Teaching this alien the ways of Christmas, they bond over snowball fights and the being’s celestial power to manipulate light.

The ad comes a fortnight earlier than usual, given that we can usually expect to see the Christmas spectacle towards the end of November.

Lola Young is the lucky singer chosen to be propelled into the spotlight this festive season as she warbles over the top of the advert with her rendition of the ’90s Philip Oakey & Giorgio Moroder hit, Together in Electric Dreams.

Image via John Lewis

Christmas adverts have long been a tradition in the UK, especially since the 1980s. Woolworth’s, Yellow Pages and Oxo all produced festive advertisements designed to increase brand awareness around a time of year when consumer spending is at an all time high.

In the 2000s it was Marks & Spencer that dominated the TV ad scene, with their seductive visuals becoming our first widely known taste of food porn. Their Christmas adverts were known by all who owned a television, with their signature slogan, “This isn’t just Christmas food, it’s M&S Christmas food,” becoming the crux of many a cuisine-related joke.

Image via John Lewis

In 2011, John Lewis changed the game by producing an advert that sported a high budget and a heart-warming storyline. Titled Gifts you just can’t wait to give, it set a trend for major brands such as Sainsbury’s, M&S and Waitrose to produce similar style ads.

Since then, each year Brits eagerly await the launch of the next year’s advertisement to see what emotional storyline they’ll be fed to cry into their mince pies. However, this year’s ad has been met with some criticism. An article from the Guardian today slated the ad, saying, “judging by this year’s offering, you might also suggest that John Lewis has run out of ideas.”

It would seem that there has become mounting cynicism towards the Christmas tradition, with viewers growing weary of having their hopes of a quality ad dashed by the far-flung ideas of supermarket marketing teams.

After years of some really exceptional Christmas ads, I think they peaked with Buster the Boxer and haven’t quite managed to ‘hit the spot’ with their offerings. Roll on @Aldi with Kevin the Carrot!

— Sue FD (@Sue_FD) November 4, 2021

Viewers have taken to Twitter to make their dismay known, with some of them claiming that this year ‘hasn’t hit the spot.’ Perhaps with last year’s covid-19 lockdown having put Brits in circumstances that were less than ideal, appetites for the ad this year have been insatiable.

What do you think of the new ad? Let us know on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. It seems like the public might have no tears left to cry, to quote the great Ms Ariana Grande.