Every year, adland waits agog for the John Lewis Chrissy ad to appear. It’s here.
It’s nice. And yes, that’s faint praise. There’s nothing wrong with doing a remake. Sentimentality. A soppy song. A child or an animal (both, this time). A mother’s love…It’s all there again. Monty the Penguin, this year’s ad, is a lot like The Long Wait from 2011.
A tear-jerker. (It is).
Monty the Penguin, this year’s ad, is a lot like The Long Wait from 2011. That ad hit the top of the viral charts in its first week – mentioned in 192,000 Facebook updates, 10,000 tweets and 190 blog posts. Monty is doing quite well in all three so far. And it had more than 2 million views in its first two days.
There’s nothing wrong with formula advertising. Christmas has followed the same formula for a couple of centuries.
And what Monty lacks in originality, it makes up for in promotional support. There was a trailer. a premiere. And a “making of” documentary. The teaser, aired on Channel 4 on November 2 and sent Twitter into overdrive. Merchandise will include a children’s book called Monty’s Christmas (with a portion of proceeds going to Barnardo’s, the children’s charity), an audio app version of the book narrated by Dermot O’Leary, the song – Real Love, by Tom Odell – released as a single, and an in-store space called Monty’s Den, created with Samsung.
Craig Inglis, marketing director at John Lewis, commented, “At John Lewis, this time of year is all about helping our customers create their dream Christmas. We hope this uplifting tale of Sam’s love for his friend Monty will remind people of the magic of Christmas through a child’s eyes and inspire them to think how they can make the festive season extra special for their friends and loved ones.”
Creative Credits:
Creative Agency: adam&eveDDB
Executive creative directors: Ben Priest, Emer Stamp & Ben Tollett
Copywriter: Daniel Fisher
Art Director: Richard Brim
Production company: Blink Productions Ltd
Director: Dougal Wilson
Producer: Ewen Brown
Executive producer: James Studholme
VFX: MPC
Audio Post production: Factory Studios
Digital production: Stink Digital & Supergoober
