Retailer John Lewis has released its Christmas advert for 2017 which shows a cute puppy being fed into an industrial strength blender.
The eagerly anticipated two minute clip, directed by Quentin Tarantino, shows the blending process in some detail to the soundtrack of Mariah Carey’s ‘All I Want for Christmas Is You’. John Lewis explained that the change in tone was in response to criticism of their adverts from previous years, which viewers labelled ‘nauseatingly uplifting’.
The reaction from viewers to the new advert has been mixed. Ben Sterling, an IT worker from Preston, told us that it was ‘terrific’ and ‘very reflective of a year dominated by Donald Trump and Brexit’. Gary Johnson from Sunderland agreed describing the advert as ‘a breath of fresh air’ and ‘strangely arousing’.
However other viewers were more critical with Alison Sanders from Edinburgh commenting that whilst the ‘content was great’ the filming was ‘shaky at times’ and the lighting ‘quite poor’.
Concerns have been raised about the message that blending a puppy on video makes about animal welfare. When we contacted the RSPCA a spokesman admitted the video ‘might technically be illegal’ but concluded that ‘it’s so fucking good we’re not going to complain’.
Meanwhile John Lewis’s commercial rivals are upping their game in an effort to compete. Industry insiders have reported that Marks & Spencer are preparing to release an advert showing a nursing home being firebombed by a man dressed as Santa, whilst Tesco have reportedly been filming a reindeer being water-boarded.
