John Lewis captures the joy of experiencing Christmas for the first time in ad by adam&eveDDB

John Lewis’ 2021 Christmas campaign by adam&eveDDB features a two minute ad called ‘Unexpected Guest’ which tells the joyful story of friendship and celebrates the magic of Christmas moments experienced for the first time.

The campaign aims to reflect our craving for more joyful moments, togetherness and escapism as so many were unable to celebrate with loved ones last year.

Viewers are taken on a magical Christmas journey, all through the eyes of the lead characters, a young boy called Nathan and space traveller Skye, whose spaceship has crash-landed in the woods beside his home. Their friendship develops as Nathan introduces Skye to many of his family’s festive traditions and brings them to life for her in the woods. They decorate the tree with fairy lights, celebrate the tradition of eating and hosting together, as he encourages her to try her first mince pie, and he also introduces her to the joy of thoughtful gifting by giving her his Christmas jumper. Through these shared moments, we see the magic of Christmas through the eyes of someone who has never experienced it before.

The soundtrack is a version of ‘Together in Electric Dreams’, originally released by Philip Oakey and Giorgio Moroder in 1984, performed by Lola Young, a 20 year old singer-songwriter from South London.

Claire Pointon, Director of Customer, said: “After the last 18 months, we wanted our advert to really celebrate this as we look forward to a brighter future. We know our customers are excited for this festive season more than ever, as they reconnect with family and friends. Through the story of Skye and Nathan we celebrate friendship and are reminded of the joy of experiencing Christmas for the first time.”

3.7m My John Lewis members saw the ad via their exclusive email access from 6.30am this morning before it launched on the store’s website and across social media channels at 8am. The ad will first air on TV this evening at 8.15pm on ITV, in a special premiere during The Pride of Britain Awards.

The ad will be brought to life for customers in ten John Lewis Christmas Emporiums, where they will be able to get up close to Skye’s ship and create and share an interactive gif on social media. There are also two Snapchat lenses available today; the first, a selfie lens, which lets you become a space-traveller like Skye and the second is an outward facing lens, which lets the users play with Skye’s spaceship in their very own world.

A version of Nathan’s Christmas jumper that he gifts to Skye will be available in store and on johnlewis.com in mens, womens and childrens sizes (£14-£29); 10% of the profits for each jumper sold will go equally to the Give a Little Love charities FareShare and Home-Start UK. All the products featured in the ad are from John Lewis, customers will be able to shop key scenes and make purchases directly from them.

My John Lewis Members will also have exclusive access to a virtual experience on the app and the website ‘Unexpected Guest: The Experience’. Members will be able to take on the character of Nathan and explore the world of the advert through his eyes, discovering AR characters and downloadable prizes for children such as printable toys and activities. There will also be hidden characters from previous ad waiting to be found.

CREDITS

CLIENT: JOHN LEWIS & PARTNERS

Director of Customer: Claire Pointon Director of Creative and Content: Matt Richmond Head of Brand Marketing: Rosie Hanley

Advertising Lead: Emma Wood

Senior Advertising Manager: Holly Kicul

Senior Advertising Executive: Rebecca Stevens Senior Advertising Executive: Ellie Smith

CREATIVE AGENCY:ADAM&EVEDDB

Chief Creative Officer: Richard Brim

Joint Chief Executive Officer: Tammy Einav Managing Director: Paul Billingsley

Creative Directors: Matt Gay & Feargal Ballance Copywriter: Matt Gay & Feargal Ballance & Patrick McClelland

Art director: Matt Gay, Feargal Ballance

Executive Producer: Sally Pritchett

Integrated Producer: Clio McLeary

Assistant Producer: Claire Peacock

Project Manager: AmyWaldman Designer/Typographer: King Henry: Dave Robinson Head of Integrated Production: Ben Sharpe

Head of Diversity, Equality & Inclusion: Bukola Garry

Chief Strategy Officer: Martin Beverley

Planning Partner: Hugh DeWinton

Senior Planner: Sian Iles

Business Director: Jo Lorimer

Account Director: Charlie Poole

Account Managers: Emily Bristowe

Business Affairs: Layla Husted / Lois Edwards / Gemma Davies Legal Counsel: Candice Macleod / Tom Campbell / Trine Odin

MEDIA:

Media agency: Manning Gottlieb OMD

CEO: Natalie Bell

Managing Director: Katrina Bozicevich

Executive Director: Glenn Berchnall

Business Director: Ryan Cummins

Account Director: Lauren Ashford

Strategy & Planning : Matthew Philip & David Bielenberg

Executive Director, Head of Creativity and Innovation: Tamara Cross

AV Media Planners: Gabriella Michalski, Daniel Baker &Tom Brown

Social Media Planners: Gilad Mandelboim & Lucie Barnett

DigitalVideo Planners: Erika Maciulyte & Gareth Treacher

PRODUCTION COMPANY

Production company: Smuggler

Producer: Ewen Brown

Production Manager: Marketa Husecka

Director: Mark Molloy

D.O.P: Greig Fraser Production

Designer: Nathan Parker

Costume Designer: Rosa Dias

Hair & Makeup Artist: Michele Baylis

Casting: Ali Fearnley

POST PRODUCTION PARTNERS

Editing Company: Work Editorial

Editor: Stewart Reeves

Edit Assistant: Rain Keene

Editing Producer: Ellie McNaughtan

Post Production: nineteentwenty

VFX Supervisor: Bill McNamara

2DVFX Supervisor & Creative Director: Ludo Fealy CGVFX Supervisor: Ben Thomas

2D Artists: Jamie Stitson,Adam McHale, Humayun Mirza, Nicole Palucsis, Jessica Hayes, David Ince, Joseph Dymond, Chrys Aldred, Matt Hutchins 3D Artist: Ivan Tomovic,Andrew Maccabe,Alison Stott, JamesWhite, Guido Pagotto, Mike Farrar, David Rencsenyi

DMP & Environment Artist: Emilis Baltrusaitis, Aurelien Ronceray

Motion Graphics: Anthony Scott

Concept: Jake Lunt Davies, Nathan McKenna

Colourist: Kai Van Beers

Colour assist: Elliott Ward

VFX Producer: David Keegan

Music Supervisor: Leland

Audio Post Production: Factory

Sound Engineer: Anthony Moore

Sound Producer: Beth Massey

MUSIC

Track Name: Together In Electric Dreams

Music Supervisor: Leland Music (Abi Leland, Ed Bailie &Toby Williams)

Library, Licensed or Commissioned: Licensed Composers: Philip Oakey / Giorgio Moroder

Artist: Lola Young

Music Producer: David Kosten

Master: Universal Music Group / Island Records Publishers: BMG Rights Management (UK) Limited (50%) /Warner Chappell North America Limited (50%)