At BonusFinder, we’ve always believed in pushing the boundaries of creativity and technology. This year, we decided to take our commitment to the next level by crafting the highly anticipated John Lewis Christmas advert for 2023.
But here’s the twist…
We didn’t use a team of human creatives. Instead, we harnessed the power of artificial intelligence to identify recurring themes, craft a storyline, choose the perfect song, and create a captivating tagline.
How We Did It
Our journey began with a simple, yet bold, vision: can AI predict the most anticipated advert of all time?
To find out, we fed it with historical John Lewis Christmas adverts to give a deep understanding of what makes these ads so iconic. Then here’s what we asked it to do:
“Predict the next advert in this series of adverts. Please tell me a title, main characters, structure, setting, story, sentiment, song and tagline based on the progression of the current adverts through the years.”
We were interested to find out if the suggestions AI put forward were able to follow John Lewis’ exact formula in making adverts that are able to resonate so deeply with the British public.
The AI-Generated Christmas Masterpiece
First we had to nail down the basics. Who is the Christmas ad about? Where is it set? How do we want it to make people feel?
? Title: The Bridge of Generations
? Main characters: An elderly man and his teenage grandson (we were already off to a great start).
? Setting: A heartwarming story set in a small town during the holiday season. Key locations include the grandfather’s home, the town square, and a picturesque bridge.
? Sentiment: Heartwarming, intergenerational love, community spirit, tradition.
? Tagline: “Connecting hearts, bridging generations, and spreading joy this holiday season.”
Nailing Down the Story
The story of the John Lewis advertisement was also going to be the most interesting part of this experiment. Would AI be able to replicate the warm, gooey feeling that previous ads have delivered? Or would the lack of the human touch make it fall flat?
Here’s what ChatGPT delivered:
“The advert tells the story of a wise elderly man who has always cherished the holiday season. He spends his days preparing for Christmas, sharing stories of his past, and teaching his grandson about the importance of family traditions.
“As the two generations bond, they come up with a plan to decorate the old bridge in town, which has been neglected for years. Together, they rally the community, young and old, to join in and restore the bridge, transforming it into a symbol of unity and hope.”
From this we were able to create a full script for the 2023 John Lewis Christmas ad:
Well. It certainly tugs at the heartstrings.
It includes some of the aspects that we’ve seen before in John Lewis Christmas adverts: charming families, heartwarming elders, and people coming together.
Not only this, but it gives John Lewis the opportunity to do what most advertisements are for…to sell their products! The act of decorating a bridge not only gives a chance of an aesthetic shot, but also means the retailer can include angles where characters are browsing their site and buying decorations from their collections.
The Most Important Part: The Song!
One of the most iconic parts of the John Lewis ads over the years has been the song. It’s always a cover, always changing it up a bit, and it usually does well in the charts.
So, there must be a lot of pressure on the team to get this right.
Why did AI suggest? When asked to give a song to work alongside this particular advert, it said:
“A soulful rendition of John Lennon’s ‘Imagine’ by a talented local artist.”
This song perfectly encapsulates the spirit of hope, unity, and compassion that this John Lewis Christmas advert is trying to portray. You can almost picture the scene of the local families joining in with decorating the bridge while the lyrics “imagine all the people, sharing all the world” are sung.
The touch of using a local artist adds a genuine element, reinforcing the idea that positive change can start within our own communities.
But which artist?
Lewis Capaldi seemed like an excellent choice. He’s well-liked within the UK and has a good track record of making successful yet tear-jerking songs.
Creating the Imagery
We couldn’t expect people to believe a John Lewis Christmas ad “leak” if we didn’t have the images to back it up.
Again, we turned to AI to produce some stills from the advert, this time using MidJourney.
The Setting:
Perhaps the most festive place to exist. The familiarity of this kind of town makes the audience feel safe, cosy, and nostalgic, exactly the emotions many Christmas adverts try to invoke.
Don’t you just want to jump into this scene?
The Characters:
While if you look closely enough, you can see some telltale signs these were produced by AI (namely when you zoom into the teeth), these images still deliver on festivity.
Fintan Costello, our CEO, Comments:
“The John Lewis advert has become a key marker for Christmas, and a milestone in the countdown to Christmas. By analysing all of John Lewis’s past adverts, we wanted to find the key themes and recurring plot points in order to predict what could be to come this November.
“Our predictions for this year’s ad are unity and community—family, but also the wider spaces around relationships and coming together as one. This tale of community spirit and making a space better for everyone is what Christmas time should be all about, and it’s something that John Lewis is often promoting with their messages. It’s not quite as heartbreaking as some of the previous adverts, but still knows how to tug on your heartstrings just the right amount.
“Covers of old classic songs from our youth are another key part of the John Lewis ads each year, with previous songs including Together In Electric Dreams, Somewhere Only We Know and Your Song. There’s a clear trend that John Lewis is using more independent artists and local talent in their adverts, and often these songs are reaching the charts before Christmas. John Lennon’s Imagine is clearly a great contender to inject emotion and togetherness into this year’s ad.
“We can’t wait to see what this year’s John Lewis advert will bring!”
