A new survey has revealed that only slightly more than half (55%) of the British public ‘love’ this year’s John Lewis Christmas ad, as opposed to an overwhelming 96% last year.
The dramatic decline was detected by digital marketing agency Impression, which used social media sentiment tracker to analyse the public’s reactions to this year’s advert compared to previous years.
Whilst last year’s festive film dealt with serious themes around foster care and child adoption, the retailer opted for a light-hearted approach this time out, focusing a young boy’s budding friendship with a fantastical Venus flytrap.
“The John Lewis Christmas ad is a staple of the marketing world and a key part of UK festivities. By analysing all of John Lewis’s past adverts and the public’s reaction, we wanted to find out the key themes that engage Brits,” Impression head of marketing, Polly Astill said.
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“This year saw considerably less people engaging with the advert on social media than in other years which is telling that we’re potentially engaging with content differently and the possible popularity of other platforms.”
She concluded: “Overall the advert remains hugely popular year-on-year and the trend of moving to more humorous and entertaining stories could help us predict the themes in years to come.”
On a more positive note however, 40% of the public found the advert to be ‘funny’ – making it John Lewis’ most comedic Christmas spot since 2018’s Elton John-focused effort.
