Where Love Lives. And vinyl spins.

I like the 2025 John Lewis ad.

Maybe because it resonates with me as a dad of two young boys. I’m sure my eldest is nearing his suppressed-emotion phase; puberty will soon start messing with him and this year’s John Lewis ad has put me on high alert. I’ll need to try extra hard to keep him close, be a reassuring voice and tread that fine line between being a role model and being his mate.

I’ve read others who feel the sentiment is wrong – that relationships shouldn’t rely on buying a gift when words are better. That makes sense in a perfect world, but the story in the ad feels real. The gift breaks the ice and rekindles the father–son bond with a precious moment we assume has been missing for a while.

Great advertising help brands build real connections with people. When emotion feels genuine and ties back to what the brand stands for, it just works. For me, this year’s John Lewis ad gets that balance spot on. It’s nostalgic but still relevant, and a great reminder that creativity, empathy and a bit of local insight can make a brand feel that much closer to home. That's exactly what we try to do.

 

I guess I’m the core target audience this year, not only a dad, but of the age to appreciate the music selection – not the obligatory melancholic guff it ends with. Am I the only person who can’t abide great music being depressingly deconstructed like this? Be original and write your own words for your downtempo pretentiousness – No, no, it’s all about the Frankie Knuckles mix of Alison Limerick’s Where Love Lives... tune!

Assuming John Lewis sells everything featured in their Christmas ads, I went straight to the site to see why they’re featuring a classic house track from 1991 on 12". The ad did its job. I found they’ve partnered with Rough Trade to offer vinyl in stores and online, catering to a vinyl revival. They also have a range of record players for those who turn listening into a ritual, or crave the nostalgia of dropping a needle onto a groove, hearing that satisfying dusty crackle before rich analogue sound fills the room. I’m a fan and still have records. But vinyl never really went away. Club DJs have always kept the presses running and should be applauded for keeping the format alive.

I regularly design sleeves for my mate’s techno label (shameless plug: check out EarToGround Records). It’s such a creative medium and sleeve art adds so much to the record-buying experience. With such a large space to play with and today’s production techniques offering coloured, marbled (see pic) or even transparent discs, vinyl continues to be a canvas of creative opportunity.

Where was I? Oh yeah – well done Saatchi & Saatchi. Apart from the unimaginative ‘reimagined’ version of Where Love Lives, you’ve smashed this year’s John Lewis ad and got me droning on about music again.