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The John Lewis 2022 Christmas ad is here and it shines a light on an ‘often overlooked issue’

The 2022 John Lewis Christmas advert is titled 'The Beginner'.

Emily Sergeant - 10th November 2022

It’s officially that time of year once again… the John Lewis Christmas advert has been released to the world this morning.

November is here, the festive season is right around the corner, the 2022 Manchester Christmas Markets officially start today, and now, after teasing it on social media for the past few days and after leaving people nationwide waiting with baited breath, department store retailer John Lewis has finally unveiled its 2022 Christmas advert.

And this year, the company has toned things down and taken it back to basics.

The release of the John Lewis Christmas advert comes hot off the heels of releases from competitors Tesco, Argos, Morrisons, and Aldi – as well as Asda, which many Brits have already claimed has “won Christmas” thanks to its use of classic footage from the iconic 2003 Christmas film Elf.

But with the rising cost of living crisis sadly continuing to make its impact felt nationwide, retailers are facing a tough battle for Christmas sales this year.

So, John Lewis has decided to use its 2022 Christmas advert – which is titled ‘The Beginner’ – to shine a spotlight on what it has called an “often overlooked issue” – children in the UK foster care system.

The 90-second advert, which is set to a cover of Blink-182’s All The Small Things by US artist Mike Geier – which was actually recorded around five years ago, and hasn’t been commissioned by John Lewis especially for the advert as the retailer has done so in previous years – shows the man as he struggles painfully to master skateboarding in the build-up to Christmas.

As the advert continues, we are left questioning the motive behind the man’s perseverance until the final scene.

The final scene then shows a social worker arriving at the man’s door with a young teenager named Ellie – who has arrived at her new foster home carrying her skateboard.

John Lewis said it understood that not all foster carers had the benefit of knowing who they would be looking after in advance, and that’s what the advert is aiming to highlight – with the retailer’s broader campaign also featuring “authentic voices of carers” and “young people with different experiences of a complex care system”.

“We could have heavily gone for Christmas magic and fun but that didn’t feel the right thing to do this year with everything going on,” explained Holly Kicul – Senior Advertising Manager at John Lewis.

“It felt the right thing to use this platform we have to get this message out.”

She also added that the retailer wanted to have the usual laughter and sentiment that its Christmas adverts are known for, but “in a different way to what we do normally.”

The release of the 2022 John Lewis Christmas advert also follows the launch of the John Lewis Partnership’s Building Happier Futures programme – which is aimed at providing young people in care with more career opportunities and chances to move into the workforce.

Read more:

• Aldi’s Christmas advert turns football icons into fruit and veg for the 2022 World Cup
• Everything you need to know about Manchester Christmas Markets 2022
• You can meet ‘Santa in the sky’ on a festive ferris wheel at Cheshire Oaks this Christmas

The advert was created with agency adam&eveDDB, with input from partner charities Action for Children and Who Cares? Scotland.

You can watch the advert in full here.

Featured Image – John Lewis