John Lewis Christmas ad: How the cost of living crisis changed the battle for best festive advert

Published

3 years ago

November 10, 2022

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It might barely be November, but the battle for the best Christmas advert is already in full flow, with John Lewis launching its festive offering today.

And while they might be a staple of our Christmas diet now – as much a tradition as pigs in blankets or carol singers – the hype around festive adverts wasn’t always such a big part of the calendar.

Today’s clip from John Lewis comes a week after Asda revealed their Christmas ad, which used classic footage from the 2003 film Elf, and hot on the heels of festive clips from Tesco, Argos, Morrisons and Aldi.

But with food bills rising, surging energy bills, mortgage hikes and reports of Britons cutting back ahead of the festive season, retailers have a difficult sales pitch to make this year.

A topic that is ‘so much bigger than Christmas’

John Lewis used their 90 seconds to shine a spotlight on an “often overlooked issue” – children in care.

The Beginner – set to a cover of Blink 182’s All the Small Things by US artist Mike Geier – shows a man as he struggles painfully to master skateboarding in the build-up to Christmas.

Viewers are left questioning the motive behind his perseverance until the final scene, when a social worker arrives with young teenager Ellie, who has arrived at her new foster home carrying her skateboard.

Kate Hardcastle, a consumer expert and chief executive of Insight with Passion, told Sky News: “Getting the tone of voice was really important for this year, and it was probably quite guessable it was going to be around corporate social responsibility because how can you do anything other else right now?

“But this is an incredibly fragile topic and needs handling with care.”

The ad was created with input from partner charities Action for Children and Who Cares? Scotland.

Alongside its longer-term work providing apprenticeship opportunities within the John Lewis Partnership for people leaving care, the retailer said it would make donations of Christmas decorations, food and gifts.

Ms Hardcastle said: “I would never say it missed the mark because the topic matters so much to me and I think any awareness is important.

“But I think the topic is much bigger than a Christmas advert and that’s because our care system support is needed 365 days a year, not just for Christmas.”

The ad is almost entirely devoid of product placement except for two brief glimpses of the retailer’s Lewis Bear toy.

But consumers can still purchase a number of products linked to the story including the £30 bear, £19 Lewis Bear pyjamas, a £5 Lewis Bear tote bag and a Rampage Skateboard for £34.99, with 25% of the sales going to the two affiliated charities.

The retail giant declined to reveal its budget for the ad.

How John Lewis changed the Christmas game

In the early 2000s, adverts were filled with as “many products as you could find” because “every frame costs money, so you want to show as much product as possible”, said Ms Hardcastle

This was seen with Marks and Spencer, who ruled the roost for years with their product-heavy offerings.

But in 2011, John Lewis changed the game with The Long Wait, a story of a young boy waiting desperately to give his mum a Christmas present.

Dr Hanlon told Sky News: “John Lewis did it differently. They told a story, rather than saying ‘here are the products, please buy these’.

“It is a classic marketing technique, it is telling a story, and it takes us back to that childhood notion of storytelling and it’s a comfortable place to be.”

And from there the battle for best Christmas advert, as it is know it today, began.

How to sell during a cost of living crisis

But as Christmas approaches this year, almost half (48%) of Brits have said they are planning to cut down on purchases – including festive activities and gifts – to save money, according to a report from Barclaycard.

Of these consumers, six in 10 will be spending less on gifts for family and friends, 44% will cut back on festive food and drink, including turkey and mulled wine, and two-fifths will curb their spending on Christmas parties and socialising.

Ms Hardcastle said John Lewis made the right choice picking a lower-priced toy as their feature product – the £35 skateboard.

She said: “This understands where people are right now. If they had put a £200 product on there, there would have been an immediate backlash of ‘how are people meant to afford this?'”

Brands ‘played it safe’

Matt Bourn, from the Advertising Association, said: “It is clear that advertisers and their agency and media partners are sensitive to the mood of the nation, the importance of being together, gifting and helping people to celebrate despite the geopolitical issues impacting us all.”

But Dr Hanlon said most of this year’s adverts “fell flat”, which indicates brands “don’t want to demonstrate they are spending millions on an ad when people are wearing extra jumpers and not putting the heating on”.

“I don’t think this year was meant to be a year for an iconic advert,” added Ms Hardcastle.

But she said she understands why brands have played it safe: “To have got it wrong this year, you would have been as villainous as the queue-jumping scandal.

“I think everyone just wants to say, let this Christmas be kind, let this Christmas be safe.

“And that’s how we feel about Christmas this year ourselves. No one’s telling you, they’re going to do some massive flash thing.

“Everyone’s saying we just going to keep it simple. We’re just going to go back to basics, getting the family together, with fewer presents, maybe a bit less food, and the currency of the adverts fits in with that.”

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Investors descend on Trump’s golf club for $148m meme coin dinner amid protests

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3 hours ago

May 23, 2025

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Investors descend on Trump's golf club for 8m meme coin dinner amid protests

Donald Trump hosted a dinner for investors in his meme coin on Thursday, as critics warned the US president was putting personal profit first.

Some 220 of the biggest investors in the $TRUMP meme coin descended on the exclusive dinner at Mr Trump’s private country club in Northern Virginia.

As the US president arrived, more than a hundred protesters at the Trump National Golf Club held signs that included “America is not for sale”, “stop crypto corruption” and “release the list”.

Massachusetts senator Elizabeth Warren described the dinner, where the US president spoke for about half an hour before dancing to the song YMCA, as an “orgy of corruption”.

Access to the dinner, and the president, was earned by purchasing enough of his $TRUMP meme coin to secure a seat.

The White House insisted Mr Trump would attend the event “in his personal time”, but the lectern he stood behind had the presidential seal.

NBC News reported that during his remarks, Mr Trump did not unveil any new crypto policies but spoke in support of a potential bitcoin reserve and then left promptly afterward.

In total, investors spent an estimated $148m (£110m), with the top 25 holders of the coin spending more than $111m (£82.56m), according to crypto intelligence firm Inca Digital.

A company controlled by the Trump family, and a second firm, hold 80% of the remaining $TRUMP coins and have so far earned $320.19m (£238.14m), including at least $1.35m (£1m) after the dinner announcement, according to blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis.

‘Trump a very successful businessman,’ says White House

According to blockchain analysis, more than half of the 220 holders who attended the black-tie event are likely based outside the US.

This has led to claims the US president has auctioned off access to himself to foreign investors for personal gain.

In response to criticisms about Mr Trump using his office to enrich himself from the meme coin, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said: “All of the president’s assets are in a blind trust, which is managed by his children.

“And I would argue, one of the many reasons that the American people re-elected this president back to this office is because he was a very successful businessman before giving it up to publicly serve our country.”

Who was on the guest list?

One of those attending was China-born crypto entrepreneur and billionaire Justin Sun.

He won first place in the dinner contest with his $18.5m (£13.76m) wallet of the Trump meme coin and is the largest publicly known investor in the family’s crypto platform – which has made them hundreds of millions of dollars.

Mr Sun posted videos of himself visiting parts of the White House complex on Wednesday, and on Thursday of Mr Trump at the dinner event.

In February, the US Securities and Exchange Commission paused a 2023 fraud case against him, citing public interest.

However, the identities of the majority of the coin holders attending the event remain unknown.

Of those going, one was simply known as Ogle, a crypto security specialist who appears in video interviews with his face covered by a bandana and sunglasses.

He says this is to protect his identity.

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Even some pro-Trump crypto voices worried his personal involvement may hurt efforts to establish credibility.

“It’s distasteful and an unnecessary distraction,” said Nic Carter, a Trump supporter and partner at the crypto investment firm Castle Island Ventures.

“We would much rather that he passes common sense legislation and leave it at that.”

The event was capped off with an after-party, called “Meme The Night,” thrown by a Singapore-based meme-coin engagement company called MemeCore.

Business

Economy will have to be ‘strong enough’ for U-turn on winter fuel, business secretary says

Published

3 hours ago

May 23, 2025

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Economy will have to be 'strong enough' for U-turn on winter fuel, business secretary says

The economy will have to be “strong enough” for the government to U-turn on winter fuel payment cuts, the business secretary has said.

Jonathan Reynolds, talking to Beth Rigby on the Electoral Dysfunction podcast, also said the public would have to “wait for the actual budget” to make an announcement on it.

You can listen to the full interview on tomorrow’s Electoral Dysfunction podcast.

Sir Keir Starmer said on Wednesday he would ease the cut to the winter fuel payment, which has been removed from more than 10 million pensioners this winter after it became means-tested.

He and his ministers had insisted they would stick to their guns on the policy, even just hours before Sir Keir revealed his change of heart at Prime Minister’s Questions.

But Mr Reynolds revealed there is more at play to be able to change the policy.

“The economy has got to be strong enough to give you the capacity to make the kind of decisions people want us to see,” he said.

“We want people to know we’re listening.

“All the prime minister has said is ‘look, he’s listening, he’s aware of it.

“He wants a strong economy to be able to deliver for people.

“You’d have to wait for the actual budget to do that.”

What are the options for winter fuel payments?

The Institute for Fiscal Studies has looked into the government’s options after Sir Keir Starmer said he is considering changes to the cut to winter fuel payment (WFP).
The government could make a complete U-turn on removing the payment from pensioners not claiming pension credit so they all receive it again.
There could be a higher eligibility threshold. Households not claiming pension credit could apply directly for the winter fuel payment, reporting their income and other circumstances.
Or, all pensioner households could claim it but those above a certain income level could do a self-assessment tax return to pay some of it back as a higher income tax charge. This could be like child benefit, where the repayment is based on the higher income member of the household.
Instead of reducing pension credit by £1 for every £1 of income, it could be withdrawn more slowly to entitle more households to it, and therefore WFP.
At the moment, WFP is paid to households but if it was paid to individuals the government could means-test each pensioner, rather than their household. This could be based on an individual’s income, which the government already records for tax purposes. Individuals who have a low income could get the payment, even if their spouse is high income. This would mean low income couples getting twice as much, whereas each eligible house currently gets the same.
Instead of just those receiving pension credit getting WFP, the government could extend it to pensioners who claim means-tested welfare for housing or council tax support. A total of 430,000 renting households would be eligible at a cost of about £100m a year.
Pensioners not on pension credit but receiving disability credits could get WFP, extending eligibility to 1.8m households in England and Scotland at a cost of about £500m a year.
Pensioners living in a band A-C property could be automatically entitled to WFP, affected just over half (6.3m).

Chancellor Rachel Reeves has committed to just one major fiscal event a year, meaning just one annual budget in the autumn.

Autumn budgets normally take place in October, with the last one at the end of the month.

If this year’s budget is around the same date it will leave little time for the extra winter fuel payments to be made as they are paid between November and December.

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Pressure builds on Reeves as borrowing rises ahead of spending review

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3 hours ago

May 23, 2025

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Pressure builds on Reeves as borrowing rises ahead of spending review

The Chancellor borrowed more than expected at the start of the new tax year, piling more pressure on the public finances ahead of next month’s spending review.

Data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed estimated net borrowing of £20.2bn in April – higher than the £17.9bn forecast by economists and the fourth highest April total on record.

That was despite a £1.7bn projected boost from employer national insurance contributions – hiked in October’s budget to help get the public finances in order and which kicked-in on 6 April.

The main reasons for the rise in borrowing included increases in public sector pay, along with higher benefits and state pensions, the ONS said.

Money latest: How travel insurance cost can surge

The data will do nothing to ease nerves over the state of the nation’s coffers amid renewed concerns Rachel Reeves may be forced to act again, in the autumn budget, to meet her own “non-negotiable” fiscal rules.

They say she must balance day-to-day spending with revenues by 2029-30, while improving public services and targeting accelerated economic growth.

The Chancellor was forced to restore a £10bn buffer at the spring statement in March, led by planned welfare curbs, after the economy flatlined.

A further restoration of headroom may be on the cards in October, given that stronger growth in the first quarter of the year is forecast to prove elusive across the rest of 2025.

The run-up to next month’s spending review – which sets budgets for government departments – has been dominated by a political row over one of her first actions in the role, which saw universal winter fuel payments stopped.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer confirmed on Wednesday that a U-turn, of sorts, is on the cards.

The prospect of a higher bill ahead will do nothing to ease the cost of servicing government debt, with bond market investors continuing to demand a higher premium to hold UK gilts.

Their concerns include not only the forecasts for slowing growth but also persistent inflation.

One good bit of news for Ms Reeves was a downwards revision by the ONS to its government borrowing figure for the last financial year.

The total dropped by almost £4bn to £148.3bn.

The shift was explained by higher tax receipts but the sum still remained about £11bn above the updated forecast by the Office for Budget Responsibility.

Darren Jones, chief secretary to the Treasury, said of the ONS figures: “After years of economic instability crippling the public purse, we have taken the decisions to stabilise our public finances, which has helped deliver four interest rate cuts since August, cutting the cost of borrowing for businesses and working people.

“We’re fixing the NHS, with three million more appointments to bring waiting lists down, rebuilding Britain with our landmark planning reforms and strengthening our borders, delivering on the priorities of the country through our plan for change.”

There is a growing school of thought that Ms Reeves will need to raise taxes in October if she is to meet her commitments, including her fiscal rules.

Lindsay James, investor strategist at wealth management firm Quilter, said: “The decision to hold off on tax rises in the spring budget increasingly looks like a temporary reprieve.

“As borrowing continues to outstrip forecasts and debt interest costs remain elevated, pressure is building on the chancellor to make tougher choices.”