GLOBAL – NOVEMBER 2011: One of this year’s early Christmas ads and an adoboHOTSPOT! from two weeks back, the TV commercial from UK retailer John Lewis, deserves a second look. Nevermind that it doesn’t look like the £5 million it cost to make–the investment has paid off for the retailer in the ad’s shareability–over 180,000 shares in its first week, according to the Campaign Viral Chart. It is currently at nearly 2.7 million views on YouTube.
The ad, developed at Adam & Eve in London, has made Lewis–the seven-year-old Lewis McGowan who stars in it, that is–a mini-celebrity. Picked from 250 boys for the part, the boy has been seen on screens all over the world. While dominant in English-speaking markets, the 90-seconder has also found fans in Latin America, Spain and other parts of Europe.
The TVC features a rendition by Slow Moving Millie of The Smiths’ ‘Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want’. The cover was released on iTunes simultaneous with the ad and is still in the iTunes Store Top 10 Alternative Songs in the UK.
Little Lewis has been compared to Damien in the horror flick The Omen. No surprise, then, that there are theories that his mysterious t contains something more sinister than a John Lewis item. Scrooges everywhere will appreciate "The Shining" version (above), one of the spoofs expected for an ad as popular as this.
CREDITS
Agency: Adam & Eve, London, UK
Agency Producer: Matt Craigie
Creative Director: Ben Priest, Emer Stamp, Ben Tollett
Art Director: Matt Gay, John Long
Production Company: Blink
Director: Dougal Wilson
Executive Producer: James Bland
Producer: Ben Link
DOP: Lasse Frank
Production Design: Andy Kelly
Costume: Michelle May
Editor: Joe Guest
Editing House: Final Cut
Post Production: Moving Picture Company
Music: Major Tom
Sound: Factory Sound
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