MyVoucherCodes.co.uk releases discount parody of John Lewis Christmas ad
Following the unveiling of this year’s #BusterTheBoxer John Lewis Christmas advert this week, which reportedly cost £6million to make and six months to create, MyVoucherCodes.co.uk teamed up with students from the London School of Communication Arts, for the second year running, to create a ‘discount version’ of the ad…but in only six hours and with just £600 to spend.
This year’s official John Lewis advert tells the story of a little girl called Bridget who loves to bounce. When her mum and dad buy her a trampoline for Christmas, they soon discover that she isn’t the only one with a passion for jumping.
Taking on the challenge to create a discount version of the advert, the teams convened in an ‘advertising war room’ at 8am yesterday (10 November) at the School of Communication Arts in Brixton, assembling a team of creatives, production folk, recording artists and support members to come up with a budget version of the ad on behalf of the discount retailer.
With the help of industry mentors from the world of PR and advertising, including school Dean Marc Lewis and Frank founder Andrew Bloch, the ad was produced and completed by 2pm on the same day.
Last year’s creation – a take on the John Lewis’ £7 million ‘On The Moon’ creative – saw action man dolls and hand-painted backdrops used to craft the content, before being unveiled to the public within seven hours.
The ‘budget version’ of the advert, carrying the message that “some things need a big budget, your Christmas isn’t one of them“, racked up over a million views, trended worldwide on Facebook and received widespread critical acclaim – eliciting praise from the original ad creators Adam&Eve and The Apprentice star Lord Sugar.
Earlier this week, Gorkana News reported that Nick Jablonka, the 18-year-old A-Level student whose online Christmas video made thousands of internet users believe it was this year’s official John Lewis Christmas advert, has been offered a newly-created role by W Communications on its digital and social team.
Jablonka created the video, entitled ‘The Snowglobe’, as part of his media coursework back in June (when he was aged 17 at the time), and it has since clocked up nearly 800,000 views.
