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Innocent Drinks Joe Media John Lewis

'Lidl bit funny' brands parody the John Lewis Christmas ad

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By John McCarthy, Opinion Editor

November 16, 2018 | 8 min read

John Lewis's much-anticipated Christmas 2018 ad told the story of Sir Elton John’s first piano – telling us that to him, it was ‘more than just a gift’. For rival brands, the ad certainly was more than a gift and allowed them to revive the Christmas tradition of riffing off, or ripping into, Adam&EveDBB's creative.

John Lewis parody

A series of John Lewis spoofs

Brands were quick to parody, undermine or hijack the campaign on social media just as they have previously with the 'Monty the Penguin', 'Man on the Moon', 'Buster the Boxer' and 'Moz the Monster' spots.

It seemed there was less fervour to parody the work this year and this could be a symptom of the ad debuting on the same day as Theresa May's Brexit withdrawal agreement – a document that dominating media attention after sparking numerous ministerial resignations.

Some brands tied the ad into that, others mocked the pricey production values or outlined that they also sell pianos – often at lower rates.

Check out how brands reacted to the ad that School of Communication Arts Dean Marc Lewis said had the power the "displace Brexit".

Aldi

Joe

Waitrose

Waitrose acknowledged its partner John Lewis' ad, by running work showing the public fast forwarding through the creative before eating cake. Read about it here on The Drum.

Twitter

Twitter marked the annual mass misunderstanding on the social network that sees John Lewis, a US science lecturer at Virginia Tech University, bombarded with tweets intended for the retailer. Read about it here on The Drum.

Elves Behavin’ Badly

Pizza Hut

Lidl

Ebay Uk

Iceland Foods

Poundland

Frank PR

NewsThump

Suffolk Gazette

Innocent Drinks

Netflix UK

How does ‘The Boy and the Piano’ square up against a decade of Christmas ads from John Lewis and Adam&EveDDB? Watch them all here.

Innocent Drinks Joe Media John Lewis

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