Can’t say I like the John Lewis ad. They seem to have forgotten that most families have a father present.
And the Venus flytrap doesn’t make much sense as a stuffed toy for children.
I’m just saying.
Last edited 5 months ago by William Shaw
Steve Murray
5 months ago
I used to enjoy ads, but haven’t watched one for a couple of decades now, recording the programmes i intend to watch and fast-forwarding through the commercial breaks.
Why? I’ve got better things to do than spend time submitting myself to manipulation, which this article describes in all its various forms and trends. Plus, watching programmes that might be of interest in one’s own time is far preferable to doing so than to someone else’s schedule, and without the irritation of an interrupted narrative.
The article itself is well written, but i thought the author might’ve at least made passing reference to the source of Christmas sentimentality: Charles Dickens. He beat the “trendy” admen to all of their so-called creative output.
Little Nell. And the death of Little Nell really is terrible writing. I like A Christmas Carol and I always have a tiny tear at the death of Tiny Tim. And Tiny Tim does NOT die!
Last edited 5 months ago by Helen Nevitt
Glynis Roache
5 months ago
The author seems to find emotion embarrassing and manipulative. Not to mention, horror of horrors, American. He prefers pithy brevity and humour. My mother, born in the 1920s, used to regard modern greeting cards with disappointment. She wanted her birthday card to contain a verse of the ‘Patience Strong’ variety. (And that from a Geordie.) Perhaps we’ve lost/suppressed something since the days of Vera Lynne?
Spending the first half of the eighties in the USA, I began to recognise that Americans in general were more openly enthusiastic, optimistic, patriotic etc etc and not ashamed of any of it. The place really felt as if it still had the energy of a young nation. I liked it. Being reserved is one thing, being ashamed of having any heartstrings at all is miserable cynicism. The little boy in the maligned ad had bought a present for his parents in secret and was eager to see how they would react. A child’s embodiment of ‘it’s better to give than to receive’. God help us if we are expected to wince at that at Christmas.
Oh dear! But wait … All Chevie trucks are red. Especially at Christmas. This ad is clearly fake! Phew …
Last edited 5 months ago by Glynis Roache
Carmel Shortall
5 months ago
Re: John Lewis and ‘Saatchi’ ad …
Screengrabbed from the Irish Independent (paywalled):
“An Irish children’s author said he was “hurt” and “devastated” after seeing the same character names and a similar plot from his book used in this year’s John Lewis Christmas advert without credit.
Joe O’Brien wrote Alfie Green And The Fly-Trapper 17 years ago and dedicated the story, about a giant Venus fly-trap named Snapper and a boy named Alfie, in memory of his son Ethan who died.”
The Christmas ad is a sappy annual masquerade for markets over altruism. Just emote about the ad while piling it into the trolley as a quick-fix salvation. About as meaningful as Love Island.
Jane Davis
5 months ago
Forget the ads. Watch the Muppet Christmas Carol instead. At the end Michael Caine as Scrooge agrees to pay his taxes.
Joy and goodwill to all men.
Peter Styles
5 months ago
The Marketeers dream, Christmas! Whatever their theme, subliminal or otherwise they capitalise on the greatest confidence trick ever perpetrated on the English speaking world… Christmas.
Can’t say I like the John Lewis ad. They seem to have forgotten that most families have a father present.
And the Venus flytrap doesn’t make much sense as a stuffed toy for children.
I’m just saying.
I used to enjoy ads, but haven’t watched one for a couple of decades now, recording the programmes i intend to watch and fast-forwarding through the commercial breaks.
Why? I’ve got better things to do than spend time submitting myself to manipulation, which this article describes in all its various forms and trends. Plus, watching programmes that might be of interest in one’s own time is far preferable to doing so than to someone else’s schedule, and without the irritation of an interrupted narrative.
The article itself is well written, but i thought the author might’ve at least made passing reference to the source of Christmas sentimentality: Charles Dickens. He beat the “trendy” admen to all of their so-called creative output.
It takes a heart of stone not to laugh at the death of Tiny Tim to paraphrase Wilde
Little Nell. And the death of Little Nell really is terrible writing. I like A Christmas Carol and I always have a tiny tear at the death of Tiny Tim. And Tiny Tim does NOT die!
The author seems to find emotion embarrassing and manipulative. Not to mention, horror of horrors, American. He prefers pithy brevity and humour. My mother, born in the 1920s, used to regard modern greeting cards with disappointment. She wanted her birthday card to contain a verse of the ‘Patience Strong’ variety. (And that from a Geordie.) Perhaps we’ve lost/suppressed something since the days of Vera Lynne?
Spending the first half of the eighties in the USA, I began to recognise that Americans in general were more openly enthusiastic, optimistic, patriotic etc etc and not ashamed of any of it. The place really felt as if it still had the energy of a young nation. I liked it. Being reserved is one thing, being ashamed of having any heartstrings at all is miserable cynicism. The little boy in the maligned ad had bought a present for his parents in secret and was eager to see how they would react. A child’s embodiment of ‘it’s better to give than to receive’. God help us if we are expected to wince at that at Christmas.
This is Chevrolet’s Christmas ad: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xnZGEUA4oBk
Doesn’t get schmaltzier than this.
Oh dear! But wait … All Chevie trucks are red. Especially at Christmas. This ad is clearly fake! Phew …
Re: John Lewis and ‘Saatchi’ ad …
Screengrabbed from the Irish Independent (paywalled):
“An Irish children’s author said he was “hurt” and “devastated” after seeing the same character names and a similar plot from his book used in this year’s John Lewis Christmas advert without credit.
Joe O’Brien wrote Alfie Green And The Fly-Trapper 17 years ago and dedicated the story, about a giant Venus fly-trap named Snapper and a boy named Alfie, in memory of his son Ethan who died.”
Both the advert and the story are powerfully reminiscent of The Little Shop of Horrors, which seems to date back to the ’60s.
Surely there must be legal recourse?
The Christmas ad is a sappy annual masquerade for markets over altruism. Just emote about the ad while piling it into the trolley as a quick-fix salvation. About as meaningful as Love Island.
Forget the ads. Watch the Muppet Christmas Carol instead. At the end Michael Caine as Scrooge agrees to pay his taxes.
Joy and goodwill to all men.
The Marketeers dream, Christmas! Whatever their theme, subliminal or otherwise they capitalise on the greatest confidence trick ever perpetrated on the English speaking world… Christmas.