IT’S NOT BOXER

Well Happy John Lewis Ad day to you all. That’s the last time I’ll say their name by the way, for reasons I’ll come on to.

As ever, the reviews are mixed. “It’s no bear and hare,” says one reviewer mistily eyeing the past. “Underwhelming!” cries another, lamenting the lack of heart. “Bring back Boxer the dog!”

Funny how the mind works isn’t it? I have a recollection of the Boxer the Dog one being a bit confusing and, perhaps even a little off-beat. It wasn’t sweet that the dog beat the little girl to the trampoline; it was odd. In fact I’m not even sure the bear and the hare one was that well received. And these are high watermarks apparently, compared to the man on the moon and last year’s venus fly trap.

This year’s offering is a bit ‘Narnian Inception’ if you ask me. I got lost at the timeline of what was happening, and then, expecting the end of the thirty second arc to tie up my loose ends, I was more disappointed than moved to tears.

I wasn’t alone in that. Not a classic, says the Internet. You know what? I don’t think they care. Like modern artists, they’d made something that got people talking and like everyone from Marcel Duchamp onwards, the real art is the conversation. And yes, they were trending.

It seems divisive output is the best way to get people talking about you. But then, there are all kinds of people on both sides of the Atlantic who’ve figured that out, aren’t there?

Which is why I only mention the makers of the ad once. I don’t want to talk about them either. It looks like a tear-jerker, but it is as ever, an opinion-stirrer. And that’s more than okay with them.

I like though how, even though it’s more often not that great, this event does seem to kick off the season somehow. Perhaps it’s not as sweet and schmalzy as it’s been in the past, perhaps not as endearing as golden days of yore. But then, I kind of think that that might just be the most Christmassy thing about it.