Reported by The Guardian
Company tugs at heartstrings with Pickles the talking toy dog as it celebrates 20 years of blockbuster festive ads
John Lewis has turned to a celebrity best known for playing aristocrats to put a playful but rather upmarket spin on the countdown to Christmas with this year’s festive ad, which features a toy dog called Pickles and a glamorous granny.
Kristin Scott Thomas, known for playing upper-crust characters in films such as Four Weddings and a Funeral and the Apple TV show Slow Horses, is cast as Gloria, a grandmother searching for gift inspiration, with the tagline “don’t give up on giving”.
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In the 20th version of its blockbuster Christmas ad, the department store kickstarts the official countdown to Christmas by tugging at the heartstrings, with Pickles, voiced by the comedian Paul Whitehouse, challenging Gloria to “do better than cash” when choosing a gift for her grandchildren.
Pickles drags Gloria out of the house on a last-minute mission to find gifts, and after rejecting options in other shops, she sets off on a magical tuk-tuk ride to John Lewis, where she snaps up some disco balls and fairy lights to create a “gran cave” to hang out with her grandchildren, Freddie and Maggie.
Rosie Hanley, the marketing director of John Lewis, said the retailer had increased its spend on this year’s festive ad as the cost of production had risen and it wanted to “push the boat out” for its 20th year.
However, she said the company was confident it would see “a really strong return on our investment” as it tries to grab shoppers’ attention before the Black Friday discount period later this month.
She said the company had wanted the ad “to be more joyful” this year because “things are tough for lots of families”. Despite concerns among British households about higher energy bills and housing costs, Hanley said spending on Christmas-related gear at John Lewis was already up on last year.
The ad, set to a Sam Fender version of the Rolling Stones song You Can’t Always Get What You Want, features a range of John Lewis…