Following the huge success of ‘Monty’s Christmas’ in 2014, expectations were once again high in anticipation of UK department store John Lewis’ newest Christmas ad. Agency adam&eve DDB didn’t disappoint as they once again banked on a proven formula of animals, good music, and humor.
‘Buster the Boxer’ shows a little girl jumping around on her bed as her dog, the eponymous Buster, watches with curiosity. As the girl’s mom stares out their window, the dad meticulously assembles a trampoline purchased from John Lewis in their backyard.
When the first few notes of Vaults’ cover of Randy Crawford’s “One Day I’ll Fly Away” begin to play, a pair of foxes come out of the woods to enter the trampoline’s net. The foxes then start jumping on the trampoline, and are followed by a badger as well as other forest animals. Meanwhile, Buster stares angrily at the hopping animals from within the family’s living room, with the humans oblivious to the chaos raging outside.
The following morning, as the little girl rushes out of her bed to see her Christmas gift, Buster dashes past her to finally jump on the trampoline himself as the music reaches its crescendo. The family looks at the dog’s antics with perplexed looks on their faces as the words “Gifts that everyone will love” flash on the screen before the John Lewis logo.The ad was directed by Dougal Wilson for adam&eve DDB.
This past June, the agency’s ‘Monty’s Christmas’ spot for John Lewis was awarded the Grand Prix for Creative Effectiveness at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. In 2015, the same ad won the Film Craft Grand Prix at the same festival. It not only earned 32 million views, but the World Wildlife Fund also reported increase in penguin adoptions by 300%.
John Lewis’ Christmas campaign for 2015, ‘The Man On The Moon,’ currently has over 25 million views on YouTube.
