Creative student's John Lewis Christmas 2016 ad coursework deceives viewers
A uni student has caused a bit of a stir with an animation project styled on John Lewis' Christmas ads.
As a result of the undoubtedly high volume of people searching for the work, the obscure project went viral and duped viewers into believing it was the real campaign.
Produced for university, the 90 second ad, called ‘The Snow Globe’ mimics John Lewis’ previous ads - an interpretation of what the 2016 ad could be (The Drum also asked top creatives to predict what form it would take).
Uploaded in June, the video saw tens of thousands of views on Friday 4 November – the date many were expecting the retailer to drop its official ad as it had in previous years.
The YouTube account, belonging to a student creative who goes by Nick Jab, was spotted by the Huffington Post, which also shared tweets from people who thought it was the authentic ad.
On creating the video, he said: “My chosen essay was on John Lewis and how successful their marketing campaign has become. Along with the essay I had to create a linked production piece, and this was my attempt on creating a John Lewis style advert. As far as I remember I think it got full marks.
“The actual production took about two weeks including rendering. It was a very rushed piece, I've left it till the last month to do it..."
He concluded: “Creating a short film is a lot of work especially when it's CGI. I was responsible for things outside of my comfort zone like character animation and lighting, so be forgiving.”
It's not the first time a John Lewis ad has been accused of fakery. Adam&EveDDB were accused of faking the Man on the Moon landing.
The John Lewis ad is fake. The side bits of his hair were blowing but there is no wind on the moon.
— Rhys James (@rhysjamesy) November 6, 2015