Depressed by the John Lewis commercial?

Have you seen the epic John Lewis Christmas TV commercial?
The one with the haunting soundtrack (a cover of Your Song by Ellie Goulding).
It is very atmospheric, making you really feel warm and look forward to a present-filled, idyllic, family-based Christmas - right up to the moment when you see the family dog - a Deerhound - lying in the snow, outside a ramshackle, bare shed - ironically clad in festive fairy lights.
No door, no raised bed.
No basic comforts.
How very unChristmassy to glamorise neglect!
It makes keeping a dog outside in all weathers appear almost aspirational.
And who'd have thought this imagery would come from such a normally ethical, animal friendly company?
That final scene totally ruins the advert for most dog lovers.
We're not stupid, we know it's not real.
Of course the dog doesn't live there really. That the snow is probably fake.
But the illusion makes putting a dog in an open-to-the-elements shed seem acceptable, even normal - in fact actually quite posh!
It validates something people should feel very, very uncomfortable about doing.
In the real world, if your neighbour kept their dog like this dog the RSPCA would be interested.
It would probably constitute a breach of the new Animal Welfare Act.
A few days ago dog lovers were tricked into believing that John Lewis had listened to the complaints from their customers and welfare charities like Battersea Dogs Home, Dogs Trust etc. Even the Telegraph and the BBC were fooled. But it turns out John Lewis has not agreed to stop showing the 60 second advert uncensored. They intend to show it prime time this weekend against top rating shows like Xfactor etc and through to December 18th whenever they feel like it.
And they have been copying and pasting answers to customers. They really are not listening.
All we need is for them to stop showing this advert with this ending. To re-edit.
 

If you'd like to do something positive to ensure this advert that glamourises neglect stops being shown as soon as possible here's how:

Complain to the Advertising Standards Association click here

They will ask you when exactly you saw the advert. Here are some recent showings just in case you haven't recorded the channel and time. It is being shown very frequently.

There were 145 complaints as of a few days ago. (Another advert was taken off after only 9 complaints to give this some context). Please do take the time to log your opinions. To read previous blogs giving background on what others feel is wrong with the advert and another complaint to ASA click here and  click here

Sky Sports News 15.01 20th November Soccer Saturday

Sky1 08.46am 20th November Malcolm in the Middle

Channel4 15.42 19th November Countdown

ITV3 21.00 approx  19th November Rebus and Ruth Rendall Mysteries

ITV2 19.10 19th November Xfactor

Five USA 19.30- 45 19th November Crime Scene Investigation Miami

ITV1 19.00-21.00 19th November Coronation Street

Discovery 19.45 19th November Mythbusters

Channel 4 21.10-15 19th November The Event
 Channel 4 17.41 20th November Come Dine With Me

Please join the facebook page (almost 2,000 followers in a few days) and post your opinion on the John Lewis facebook page, too.

And sign the petition: click here

Should you wish to email them you are likely to get a stock reply as they are not coping with the response and appear to have their fingers in their ears! But if you still want to contact them:

Helen Dickinson, Head of Press and PR 

helen_dickinson@johnlewis.co.uk
Tel: 020 7592 6222
Louise Cooper, Senior Manager, Corporate, Digital and Branch PR 

Louise_Cooper@johnlewis.co.uk
Tel: 020 7592 6223