John Lewis Christmas advert 2016: Buster the Boxer bounces away in 'fun and magic' ad

John Lewis has swapped tears for laughter for this year’s festive ad offering
Liz Connor10 November 2016

Nothing signifies the countdown to Christmas better than the launch of the John Lewis Christmas advert.

But if you were planning on weeping into your keyboard this morning, you’re in for a surprise - because the high street retailer has made a dramatic departure from its usual bid to tug on your heartstrings - a formula that has made its adverts one to watch each festive season.

This year's advert - called ‘Buster the Boxer’ - offers some light relief, which many of you might need after yesterday's shock US election result.

Here’s everything you need to know.

The basic plot

This year’s advert tells the story of a little girl called Bridget who loves to jump. Her mum and dad buy her a trampoline for Christmas and hide it in the garden to surprise her with on Christmas Day. As darkness falls a cast of animals emerges – two foxes, a badger, a squirrel, and a hedgehog – who discover the trampoline and have fun jumping. Meanwhile, Lily’s boxer dog Buster enviously looks on at the animals having fun.

On Christmas morning, Bridget excitedly runs out into the garden to discover her present, but before she can get to it, Buster bounds past her and excitedly bounces on her trampoline.

The song is a Randy Crawford cover (but you might recognise it from Moulin Rouge)

The song you’ll be hearing from now until new year is jazz hit ‘One Day I’ll Fly Away’. The track was originally made famous by American singer Randy Crawford, and appeared on her 1980 album Now We May Begin. Doesn’t sound familiar? You might then recognise it from Baz Luhrmann's 2001 Oscar-winning musical 'Moulin Rouge!', where it was notably covered by Nicole Kidman portraying the character of Satine.

The artist is Vaults

After previously opting for acoustic covers of ballads by Ellie Goulding, Gabrielle Aplin and Aurora, John Lewis followed the tradition of previous years by plumping for a female-fronted cover. The artist soundtracking this year's advert is south London electronica outfit Vaults, comprising of singer Blythe Pepino, instrumentalist Barney Freeman and producer Ben Vella.

The band formed in 2013 and their song ‘One Last Night’ featured on the Fifty Shades of Grey film soundtrack, while their debut album is expected in February 2017.

Well, that puts those David Bowie rumours to bed then.

The advert cost £1 million to make

John Lewis are keeping tight-lipped about the cost of the advert, but rumour has it that it cost a cool £1 million to make. On top of that, an overall £7 million will be spent on marketing.

There’s a hashtag to know

#BusterTheBoxer is where you can find all of the best reactions to the advert as they happen.

It was directed by the same person behind Monty the Penguin

Dougal Wilson also directed three previous John Lewis Christmas adverts including 2011’s The Long Wait, 2012’s The Journey, and 2014’s ‘Monty’s Christmas’.

There’s a snapchat filter

Log onto Snapchat today and you’ll be able to snap yourself with a new lense that will transform you into Buster the dog.

John Lewis customers who are shopping in store will also be able to access a new set of Twitter stickers, so you can personalise your tweets with Buster and his woodland friends.

The advert is for a good cause

This year John Lewis has partnered with the Wildlife Trust to raise awareness about the protection and conservation of Britain’s nature.

Craig Inglis, Customer Director at John Lewis said; "2016 has certainly been quite a year, so we hope our advert will make people smile. It really embraces a sense of fun and magic, reminding everyone what it feels to give the perfect gift at Christmas.

“Each year we work with a charity which fits our ad, and we hope this year’s campaign will encourage more children to discover a love of British wildlife and encourage support of The Wildlife Trusts.”

John Lewis will make a donation to The Wildlife Trusts from the sale of soft toys of the characters which feature in the advert. The retailer has also worked with the charity on a number of fun, educational tools which will be available online, to encourage more children to develop an interest in British wildlife.

Love it or hate it? Either way, get ready to see a lot more of Buster the Boxer over the next six weeks.

You can watch the full ad from 8am.

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