Sadly, John Lewis's 2010 Christmas advertisement starts splendidly but ends on an abysmal note. The people in PR, Marketing and Advertising appear to have been asleep. While animal charities reiterate the worthy mantra that a pet is for life and not just for Christmas, year on year at this time, John Lewis places the domestic pet dog in an outside, cold kennel, with a young child delivering a Christmas stocking the pet won't find its way into. The poor dog appears very well-excluded from the home also...
See the advertisement here:
And remember this: all our pets/domestic creatures deserve the best of Christmas as we do. Please make it happen and ignore the subliminal message purveyed by John Lewis.
Probably the advertising agency was full of twenty something whiz kids, who just did not see the problem.
Posted by: Norm | 20 November 2010 at 19:38
Rhian - Well-said! You're quite right, too, that this ad doesn't at all say what you would think it ought to...
Posted by: Margot Kinberg | 20 November 2010 at 18:10