'Give A Little Love'—Department Store's Christmas Ad For 2020 Inspired By Small Acts Of Kindness In Lockdown

Nov 17, 2020 by apost team

John Lewis & Partners, a popular department store in Great Britain, encourages us all to "give a little love" this holiday season. One small act of kindness can mean the difference between a good day and a bad day, especially at this time, considering the impact the coronavirus is having on the world.

The video starts with a boy hoping to play a little football but is looking forlornly at his ball which is stuck high in a tree. If you've ever been excited to get out and have some fun, only to see your opportunities disappear because gravity and physics sometimes get in the way, you'll certainly understand his pain!

The first possible helper turns out to be a bystander pigeon who lands on the branch beside the ball. Unfortunately, the pigeon takes off without bumping the ball out of the tree. However, a small girl knocks the ball out of the tree with her umbrella, which opens in the shape of a heart.

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For nearly a minute, the video moves into a claymation format. The young boy, carrying his football, finds a snowman who's down on his luck and losing height as he melts into the ground. With a snow-filled balloon given to him by the boy, the snowman is elevated and set free.

The freed snowman finds a family dealing with tire trouble and sets them on their bumpy way with a heart-shaped wheel made from his snow, that gets them back on the road. What a nice reminder that help doesn't have to be perfect to be remarkable!

The car, aided by the heart-shaped tire, delivers groceries to a household. The household members notice that a neighbor is alone, and share a holiday cracker with him. The neighbor is delighted and presented with a joke that brightens his outlook through all his daily activities—it must have been really funny, as he just can't stop laughing!

As it turns out, our newly happy neighbor is a barber. In giving a boy a trim, our characters return to human form long enough to put a heart on top of the Christmas tree. We are reminded that, while the star symbol is lovely, there have been too many sharp and painful things in the world this year. Maybe we should all put our hearts on display this holiday season instead?

As viewers are moved back to claymation, we are reminded of the pigeon at the beginning of the story. The pigeon, checking out the tree decorating party, leaves the windowsill and returns to his gang of four pigeon friends. Near them is a hedgehog, carrying feathers and doing his best to fit in. Rather than leaving out any non-flyers, the pigeons and hedgehog climb into a plane to catch a little air and share some good news.

The plane appears in the background of a transit train, where a small girl is studying her broken glasses. A neighbor takes a heart sticker off of her apple and uses it to repair the glasses. As the little girl, successfully wearing and enjoying her repaired glasses, steps off the train, we are returned to human form for the end of the message.

She turns out to be the little girl with the heart-shaped umbrella who knocked the football out of the tree. On her walk to her destination, she passes a boy in the park working on his ball-handling skills as she notices the message in the sky: "Together We Can Make A Difference" as the pigeons and one happy hedgehog fly by in claymation format.

Speaking of the advert, Martin George, Customer Director for Waitrose said:

“When we thought about it our inspiration was the British public. We started to see the acts of amazing generosity such as Captain Tom Moore as well as a number of other people. In the early stages of lockdown, we all remember how humbled we were by the spontaneous acts of kindness that emerged within communities. Our ambition then was to inspire a generation with the simple thought that if we all give a little love, the world will be a better place.”

While we need to isolate to avoid spreading infection, we also need to connect where and whenever possible. Each of us is facing unprecedented challenges, due to the global pandemic, and we are all waiting hopefully for life to go back to normal again.

Set to the lovely tones of 26-year-old British soul singer Celeste, we are transported to a world where kindness makes all the difference. She told the Mirror: “I felt really honored to be asked to take part. The message that everyone really wanted to get across was the idea if you’re kind and giving, then these little acts hopefully can ricochet and make the world a better place.”

How did you feel watching this? Enjoy, like, and share the John Lewis Christmas video this season. No matter how isolated or frightened we may all be feeling, we have the power to brighten the life of someone else.