What happens when you combine an Oscar-winning director, millions of pounds and a loveable monster? Obviously, it’s the latest John Lewis Christmas advert.
The John Lewis Christmas ad is here.
The highly anticipated blockbuster ad from the UK retailer premiered on Good Morning Britain at 7am (GMT), and centres around a loveable monster called Moz.
Moz is a Where the Wild Things Are-esque character that can’t help but keep the little boy, whose bed he’s sleeping under, awake with his rumbustious snoring.
When Moz wakes, he and the boy strike up a friendship and spend the hours of the night playing, neglecting the need for a good night sleep.
Moz soon realises that keeping the lad up is not the most responsible thing to do, so he leaves a gift under the Christmas Tree that makes it easier for him to get some shut-eye.
The spot follows a similar formula of those that came before it. There’s a beautiful, melodic, song, and a tale of a boy and his friend, plus the inevitable, emotional ending sure to bring a tear to the eye.
The ad is rumoured to have cost the department store some £7 million (approx A$12 million), with Academy Award-winning screenwriter Michel Gondry, the director behind Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, called on to make the two-minute ad.
The Beatles song accompanying the ad, Golden Slumbers from the 1969 Abbey Road album, was re-recorded by English rock band Elbow. Adam&EveDDB was behind the creative, with the ad being shot in a London studio.
John Lewis ads have become synonymous with Christmas in the UK, and have become an event of the advertising calendar. Previous ads such as Buster the Boxer, The Bear and the Hare and fan favourite Monty the Penguin, all garnered tens of thousands of tweets and social media mentions in the hours post launch.
At the time of launch in the UK, #MozTheMonster was the number one trending topic on Twitter locally.
The brand has accompanied its ad with a Christmas web app that allows people to create their own monsters.
John Lewis launched its ad days after rival Marks and Spencer went live with its Paddington Bear Christmas tale.
The spot is called “Paddington and the Christmas Visitor,” in which Paddington accidentally foils a Christmas burglary plot.
The campaign is linked to some 90 products created by M&S including a £12 soft toy version of Paddington and a £42 duffle coat. The brand is also aiming to use its spot for good, with it pledging all the profits from one of the items, a book from the range, to local child-services charity NSPCC.
The war of the Christmas ads is set to continue this week with Sainsbury’s, House of Fraser, Waitrose and Boots all launching their Christmas campaigns this weekend.
Locally, Myer launched the latest installment of its festive franchise starring Elf, Reindeer, Angel and Mouse, while David Jones has taken a cutesy turn this year with an animated gingerbread man making his way back to Australia for christmas.
Who's winning the battle of the Christmas spots, can the local characters take on the UK’s Paddington and Moz?
Tell us below.
