John Lewis Christmas adverts have become a staple of the festive period and rarely fail to bring a tear to the eye.
The heartwarming commercials, which first debuted on TV in 2007, are centred around a special message with the soundtrack featuring up-and-coming artists, such as Lola Young for 2021, who is following in the footsteps of Ellie Goulding and Lily Allen.
Titled Unexpected Guest, the festive campaign for this year sees an alien named Skye crash-land onto earth and into the woods at the height of the Christmas period before she is greeted by a 14 year old boy named Nathan.
The two-minute ad is intended to remind viewers of experiencing Christmas for the first time after 2020 saw families isolated with lockdown restrictions.
But what are the best John Lewis adverts from over the years? Let's take a look…
2007 – Shadows
The first John Lewis commercial was titled 'Shadows' saw a group of people stacking items such as a MacBook, desk lamp, feather boa, champagne glass and side table in an empty room.
After sprinkling confetti, the finished 'shadow' is the appearance of a woman walking her dog on a winter's day through the snow.
2008 – Clues
In 2008, John Lewis used the tagline, 'If you know the person, you'll find the present', to create the perfect Christmas advert.
The commercial sees various people placed in front of their ideal gifts, ranging from a SatNat, coffee machine and science kit, with the soundtrack as a cover of The Beatles hit From Me To You which was recorded by John Lewis employees.
2009 – The Feeling
The heartwarming commercial featured a cover song of the Guns N' Roses song Sweet Child O' Mine by Taken by Trees and showed young children unwrapping presents such as a coffee machine and slippers that are usually intended for adults.
Alongside the tagline, 'remember how Christmas used to feel', the final scenes shows a little girl opening a camera and becoming a woman.
2010 – A Tribute To Givers
The 2010 John Lewis advert was the sound of Christmas for many with the Ellie Goulding cover of Elton John's hit Your Song.
Parents are seen sneaking presents up the stairs, one office worker attempts to wrap candlesticks before the advert ends on a little boy hanging a stocking on the dog kennel outside, with the tagline: "For those who care about showing they care."
2011 – The Long Wait
The 2011 advert saw Slow Moving Mille cover The Smith's song Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want with a little boy impatiently waiting for December 25.
But instead of wanting to open his own presents, the youngster rushed to find the gifts he had purchased for his parents in a heartwarming scene.
2012 – The Journey
In 2012, John Lewis released another tear-jerking commercial that saw a snowman embark on an incredible journey across fields, mountains and a river to find the perfect gift for his wife.
Symbolising the lengths that someone will go to locate the perfect gift, Gabriella Aplin sang her version of the 184 hit The Power of Love from Frankie Goes To Hollywood.
2013 – The Bear And The Hare
In the first animated TV advert, Lily Allen provided the soundtrack with a version of Keane's Somewhere Only We Know for the £7million Disney-inspired commercial.
The magical tale sees best friends, a bear and a hare, prepare for winter in the knowledge that they will be separated as the bear goes into hibernation.
In a sweet scene, the bear returns to his cave to hibernate over Christmas but the hare is determined he will not miss the festive period and leaves a gift for his best friend.
While the woodland animals exchange gifts underneath the tree, the bear emerges after opening his gift to join the owls, deer and foxes.
After we find out that he was gifted an alarm clock, the tagline is: "Give someone a Christmas they'll never forget."
2014 – Monty the Penguin
The sweet advert tells the story of an unlikely friendship between a little boy named Sam and a sweet penguin named Monty.
Tom Odell provided a cover of the 1977 John Lennon song Real Love, with Sam rushing downstairs to find a mate for his penguin on Christmas morning.
In a sweet moment, the real penguins become toys with the tagline: "Give someone the Christmas they've been dreaming of."
2015 – The Man on the Moon
In 2015, John Lewis opted for 'show someone they're loved this Christmas' as the message which saw a little girl attempting to contact an elderly man living alone on the moon.
After her failed attempts, she sends him a telescope via a balloon and the sweet old man finally gets to see planet earth on Christmas.
The soundtrack was a cover of the Oasis track Half the World Away by Aurora.
2016 – Buster the Boxer
The sweet tale saw a father building a trampoline for his little girl on Christmas Eve before foxes, a badger, squirrels and a hedgehog are seen bouncing on the new garden toy as Buster watches the fun from the living room.
However on Christmas Day, the excited little girl runs into the garden to find the trampoline before the excitable pup leaps onto it.
The Vaults recorded a cover of Randy Crawford's One Day I'll Fly Away.
2017 – Moz The Monster
In 2017, a seven year old boy who was afraid of the dark befriends Moz, the monster underneath his bed, to the cover of The Beatles hit Golden Slumbers by the band Elbow.
On Christmas Day, the little boy finds an unexpected present under the tree which is a night light that causes Moz to disappear when it is illuminated.
2018 – The Boy and the Piano
Sir Elton John opened the commercial playing the opening of his 1970 hit Your Song as he reminisces on his life of stardom over the years.
Following his glittering career, the advert ends with a four year old Elton unwrapping his first piano on Christmas Day in 1951 which was a gift from his mum Sheila.
Ending the scene with Sir Elton at the same piano, the tagline reads: "Some gifts are more than just a gift."
2019 – Excitable Edgar
The heartwarming advert, set to the soundtrack of Bastille covering of REO Speedwagon's Can't Fight This Feeling, is more like a feature film than a promotion for a department store. It is set in a magical, historical world and is about a sweet little girl called Ava and her friend Edgar, who happens to be a fire-breathing Dragon.
Although Edgar is well-meaning he finds himself ostracised from the community despite his efforts to befriend the villagers. This is because the hapless little dragon breaths fire when he is excited, which results in him both burning down the Christmas tree and melting the ice rink that children are playing on so they fall into the freezing lake.
After Edgar hides away feeling deflated and dejected little Ava hatches a plan to include her friend in the festive celebrations. When all the villagers are having a Christmas feast she comes in with Edgar and blows a fanfare into a trumpet so all eyes are on him, then Edgar lights the brandy atop of the Christmas pudding to rapturous applause.
2020 – Give a Little Love
In 2020 the iconic advert celebrated small and random acts of kindness, inspired by the goodwill shown by the British public during the pandemic, and it’s entitled ‘Give A Little Love.’
In true John Lewis fashion, the advert boasted a song which really touched the heart strings, with a song performed by BRIT Award winner Celeste, a 26 year old British-Jamaican singer with a hauntingly beautiful voice
The advert begins as a young boy gets his football stuck in a tree, but luckily someone comes to help him get it out, using a large heart shaped umbrella.
This then sets the tone for the advert, with random acts of kindness happening throughout.
The amazing advert switches artfully between live action and animation and it ends with the simple yet effective message of ‘Give A Little Love’ written in the sky, which comes from a plane resembling a World War II spitfire, in a homage to Captain Tom Moore.
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