John Lewis get inspired by ET for Christmas
It weaponises just the right amount of emotional appeal to make you feel warm and invested in John Lewis as a retail brand.
A story that plays out a lot like the 80's movie sensation, ET, is the basis on which John Lewis are pitching their Christmas 2021 campaign - entitled Unexpected Guest.
Alien befriends Earthling, tastes mince pies, fires freshly fallen snow out of their spaceship's exhaust system and causes much pain and suffering when they eventually leave Earth to return to their own planet a million miles away.
It weaponises just the right amount of emotional appeal to make you feel warm and invested in John Lewis as a retail brand to make you want to spend all of your lockdown savings at their stores.
The song you can hear playing in the ad is Lola Young's version of Together in electric dreams. An excellent choice considering the story.