First gong for John Lewis Xmas ad

John Lewis’ Christmas TV ad may have been on air less than a week but it has already picked up its first industry award, scooping the “Compassionate Marketing Award” from a leading animal rights charity.
The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) Foundation has hailed the retailer, and agency Adam & Eve DDB, for using computer-generated imagery for the ad, rather than employing what it described as “frustrated, tormented animals”.
The charity said that like all wild animals, penguins would naturally shun contact with humans. Being hauled around by commercial animal handlers to be used as props for appearances or filming is extremely stressful and can leave them agitated and frightened and with weakened immune systems.
PETA UK director Mimi Bekhechi said: “John Lewis’ decision puts it in line with other progressive and conscientious companies and spares penguins the stress of being treated as living props.
“On-screen entertainment has progressed technologically as well as socially since the commercials of the Seventies, in which chimpanzees were forced to wear roller skates, carry pianos or pour tea from a pot. Slick creations such as this ad show that using actual animals, as well as being cruel, is utterly unnecessary.”
The charity’s US division recently collaborated with ad agency BBDO and digital effects company The Mill to create a new TV spot, “98% Human”. The film exposed how great apes used in ads, movies and television are forcibly taken from their mothers shortly after birth, causing irreversible psychological harm to both the mother and her baby.
The spot, which was narrated by Oscar-winning actor Adrien Brody, won a Gold Lion for visual effects at Cannes. Dozens of agencies – including the top 10 advertisers in the US – have now agreed not to exploit apes for profit.

First gong for John Lewis Xmas ad

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