John Lewis, the successful British retailer, has given us a lesson in advertising, showing that even a Christmas advertisement can be successful, funny, even moving, without being banal and without pushing the fat man in the red suit down the chimney. Christmas indeed only appears at the end, while Monty the penguin, the protagonist of the commercial, has already become a viral star on social networks (on YouTube alone there have been almost 11 million views, already exceeding those of the 2013 hare and bear advert). Following the final “twist”, the Call to Action, “Give someone the Christmas they’ve been dreaming of”, and the reference to the now indispensable multichannel triad: “John Lewis in store – online – mobile”. What can we say? A lesson in style.
Curiosity: Monty is not a real penguin but an animation created on the computer; the commercial cost 1 million pounds and the entire campaign 7 million with the involvement of social media; the song is “Real Love” by John Lennon sung by Tom Odell, the same that last year was the soundtrack to the Burberry Christmas commercial.
