John lewis advert theory

1. Essay on The John Lewis Advert 2018 (Elton John)
The Advert i will be analyzing will be the 2018 John Lewis advert. This advert contains
a celebrity know as Elton John. Elton john is a British Artist known for his music. He
started his career in the 1970’s singing genre music from: Pop, Rock and Blues, from
this he became a well-known artist across the globe. He stars in the John Lewis
advert in 2018.
John Lewis is a high-end department store which is based in the United Kingdom.
The first John Lewis store was opened in 1864 and has grown massively to this day,
including the total of 51 store being opened. Since 2007 John Lewis launched their
first Christmas advert. Since then, it has become a tradition for them to release an
advert on the countdown to Christmas every year since.
They have always created emotional and effectively adverts, which appeal to all age
groups which makes the advert so well-known each year. This year john Lewis
partnered up with adam&eveDDB to complete the project. This year the message
john Lewis have wanted to present is to cherish the gifts you receive this Christmas
as that special moment is something you should have with your forever. This
message is positive and magical.
The advert is about Elton John’s journey in music. This journey shows him as a child
receiving a piano for Christmas to his journey now. However, this is shown in reverse
because it’s taken a step back in time from adult life to child. The clips of Elton john
show his performances from an Adult to a child. What i find touching about the clips
is it represents Elton’s life effectively. For example: There is a clip of him playing in a
pub when he was younger. This is a true story as it’s where he was first scouted to
become a per- former. This scene shows how much joy he gave to people, especially
his mother who is shown multiple times. This shows that his music is inspiring.
The Piano is there to symbolize his music journey and how significant it is in Elton
John’s performances. This is shown throughout as each clip showing Elton john
includes his piano. This repetition is effective because there is a consistent link
between each clip shown in the advert which allows the symbolic item become
known in the consumer’s mind.
There have been different uses of colours throughout which represent different
aspects in this life displaying different emotions. This is show by the colour shown in
each scene. The few colours which have been repeated throughout are reds, greens,
whites and blues. The red is shown the most throughout because it portrays an
important message of love. It is also a dominant colour which helps attract the
audience to that main section of the scenes. The red is also intertwined with the

2. green which displays the classic Christmas colours. This helps represent the Theme of
Christmas throughout.
The blue, red and whites are shown together as well. These are the colour of the
union jack which have been placed as a symbol in the middle of the advert. This
reflects a Theme of British values, which allow the audience to feel proud of their
country. These colours are all used throughout. However, there is a scene in the
middle which has a pause of silence and just voice. This always the audience to
reflect as that is a big part of the Christmas period. This then allows the transition of
the colour white being used a lot more when it comes to Elton john’s childhood. This
shows a sense of innocents which allows the scenes to contain more emotion
towards the audience. These scenes also reflect the Christmas period too, which is
time where you are supposed to be happy and joyful. The costumes included in this
advert also link into colour. The costumes are all covered in sequins throughout Elton
john’s youth. This adds spirit and magic into the advert. Elton john is also always
dressed smartly, even when he was a youth. As a youth, this adds an innocent effect
to the overall scenes. This is because he looks smart and polite just from the costume
choice.
There have been different camera angles used as well to heightens the emotions of
the advert. A few camera angles that have been used are panning, close ups and
middle shots. The panning shots have been used throughout the whole advert. This
is because it shows a movement in time which links into the whole concept of the
advert. This makes the journey seems more real and as if we are living it with the
main character. However, at the start and the end of the advert they use a close up
shot. They use this because it adds a bit of suspense and realism to the overall
advert. This helps the audience feel connected to the character which creates the
advert to become emotive. The close ups start and begins close up to the main
character’s face (Elton John). This allows the audience to see the growth of Elton john
and how the whole advert is a series of events in his life. The middle shots included
throughout the advert are there to add a neutral ground. This allows the audience to
make their own assumptions on how they feel watching it.
Overall, i feel like the John Lewis advert is effective. This is because it is emotive
throughout and they have thought about every aspect of the advertisement. This
includes outfit choices and colour choices. It portrays the message john Lewis are
wanting to convey in an effective and emotive manor which really appeals to the
audience.
Another aspect I would like to cover with the John Lewis advert is that they bring a
new Christmas advert out every year. This allows John Lewis’ audience to become

3. excited for the build up to Christmas each year causing the John Lewis advert to
become a tradition and a ‘countdown to Christmas’ as some say. Another funny
aspect that adds to the popularity of John Lewis advert is that their competitors use
satire to mock their adverts by creating a knock off version of it. For example: The
Elton John Advert for the year 2018 was mocked by Waitrose. In the Waitrose advert
it displayed a family watching the Elton john advert and skipping through it, as if
they were bored. This boosted the popularity up for both department stores as it was
a rivalry that people were interested in. This is because everyone enjoys knowing why
these situations occur. The interesting part about this rivalry is that John Lewis and
Waitrose are partners. This means that the partnership is benefitting both stores.
However, stores like Aldi and Sainsbury’s have created a few mock adverts
themselves. An example of this is: the Aldi advert which was mocking the advert from
John Lewis known as ‘the man on the moon’. These mock adverts boost the
popularity of the rival stores which allows people to become excited as the rivalry
keeps the adverts more interesting and adds to the humour throughout.
An iconic advert that John Lewis created was their ‘the long wait’ advert, which was
released in 2011. This was an effective piece of advertisement as It was really
emotional and pulled on a lot of the audience’s heart strings. This advert shows a
little boy who is miserable all year and as soon as Christmas hits he becomes happy
and vibrant. The reason for this is because he has been wanting to give his parents a
gift that he is so proud of. The main use of colour for this advert is mainly blues and
reds. This is manly highlighted through the clothing the little boy is wearing. All
throughout the first half he is wearing blue which can be associated with sadness
which is empathised by him looking sad and frustrated. However, it also shows
calmness and patience’s which is exactly what the child is doing by waiting for
Christmas day to come. In contrast to this, he wears red clothing at the end of the
advert. This is associated with love and passion. This links effectively with the end of
the advert because the little boy has been so excited to give the present he got his
parents to them. This shows his passion and selflessness throughout causing the
whole advert to become emotive by making the audience feel relief and happiness.
The lighting throughout the advert helps empathise how the little boy is feeling too.
The lighting throughout is dim and miserable. This makes you wonder why the boy is
so upset over such a festive period of the year. This contrasts the meaning of
Christmas as it is ‘the season to be jolly’. This contrast intrigues the audience by
making them question why such a young child is feeling this way. After the advert,
has been dull throughout, at the end they make scene bright and vibrant. This
happened as he was giving his parents the gift he bought them. A symbolic scene
that is remember with the transition from dark to light was the door to his parent’s
room. This is because as the door is opened all that is visible is a bright light. It was
as if the child was walking straight into happiness. This symbolic moment gives the
audience some warmth creating a sense of happiness. Especially, as the scene to
follow is sweet and emotional.

4. The camera shots used throughout vary. The shots range from middle, long and
close up. However, the angle rarely changes making the scenes mutual which adds to
the audience’s curiosity. The scene tends to start with a close up and then slowly fade
into a distant shot. What this does is adds distance between the audience and the
main character. This shows there’s a sense of isolation and upset which makes the
audience question why that is. This is also empathised by the fact the characters
around him look concerned and upset. However, when the end scene is shows the
scene goes from middle shot to close up. This shows that the boy is finally happy
and has given the audience closure. It also shows the other characters around him
happy, causing the end scene to be full of happiness.
Overall, after looking into more than one John Lewis advert, I can say that they
always try and make the adverts emotive. I feel like this is one of many reasons why
so many people are excited for the John Lewis advert each year. This is because
Christmas is a reflective period and I feel like an emotive advert reflect the relevance
everyone is feeling over this period. I also feel with all the other micky take adverts
being released has boosted the popularity of the John Lewis adverts because it
shows the most recent gossip which everyone is wanting to know about. It also
shows friendly competition over such a festive and happy period which causes the
humour to be heightened throughout.
References:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QIl69I5_Wjo
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=aldi+advert+man+on+the+moon
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNbSgMEZ_Tw (Thursday 3rd Of January 2019)

5. https://www.standard.co.uk/shopping/john-lewis-christmas-2018-advert-revealed-
elton-john- takes-centre-stage-with-story-of-how-piano-gift-a3990421.html
(Thursday 3rd Of January 2019) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-M96LTJt4_c
(Thursday 3rd Of January 2019)