It has become almost as much a part of the festive season as Santa and a tree surrounded by gifts.
But the John Lewis Christmas TV advert will break with its own tradition this year – and won’t be the tear-jerker we have come to know and love.
The commercial, which is released today, will instead tap into parental nostalgia, with a trip down memory lane for those who might have spent their pre-children years enjoying the glory days of Britain’s nightclubs.
While it might not seem like a particularly festive theme, at the heart of the new advert is the relationship between a father and his teenage son – a first for one of the store’s Christmas campaigns.
It opens with the teenager nervously waiting for his father to find his gift hidden beneath the Christmas tree – a vinyl record featuring the dance tune.
Surprised by the thoughtful present, his dad heads for his record player to try out the gift while his son, headphones clamped around his neck, watches timidly for a reaction.
As soon as the first beat of the song – Alison Limerick’s 1990 club anthem Where Love Lives – fills the room, his father is transported from their living room to a sweaty, overcrowded nightclub, filled with partygoers.
The ad soon cuts from the dad dancing in the club to flashbacks of his son as a toddler and a baby. Then, as a modern version of the track echoes softly in the background, the scene shifts back to the present day, where the embarrassed teen is pulled into an embrace by his emotional dad.
John Lewis has unveiled its hotly-anticipated Christmas advert (pictured) for 2025 – and this year, the British retailer is hoping a mix of ’90s nostalgia and a sweet father-and-son relationship will pull on viewers’ heartstrings
The ad, created by Saatchi & Saatchi, shows the father clearing up discarded wrapping and coming across an unopened present with a yellow sticky note marked ‘Dad’ with a smiley face
He unwraps the vinyl (pictured in the wrapping paper) and heads straight to his record player, with the ad cutting to him dancing in a 90s club before flashbacks show him remembering his son as a toddler and a baby
His teen (pictured) – with headphones clamped around his neck – timidly watches his father’s reaction
As soon as the first beat of the 90s classic fills the room, the dad is transported from his modern-day living room back to a sweaty, overcrowded nightclub (pictured), filled with partygoers
The ad soon cuts from the dad dancing in the club, filmed in Electric Brixton , in London, to flashbacks showing him remembering his son as a toddler and a baby in the ’90s (pictured)
Then, as Labrinth’s new version of the track echoes softly in the background, the scene shifts back to the present day, where the slightly embarrassed teen is pulled into an embrace by his emotional dad
The pair share a quiet moment before the man starts dancing again, forcing a laugh from the teenager. The commercial finishes with the message: ‘If you can’t find the words, find the gift.’
Rosie Hanley, John Lewis’s brand director, told the Daily Mail that while this year’s advert, created by Saatchi & Saatchi, has ‘all the DNA’ the brand’s festive campaigns are known for, it is also quite ‘unexpected’.
The vinyl disc will be sold exclusively at John Lewis, with Ms Limerick’s version on the A-side and the new version by British rapper Labrinth as the B-side.
All profits from the £14.99 record will go to the firm’s Building Happier Futures campaign to help people who have grown up in care.
Ms Limerick, 66, said she ‘squealed like a child’ when she heard that her song would be in the ad, adding that ‘the storytelling, joyful resolution at the end, a thoughtful gift… are John Lewis through and through’.
