Feeling a bit Christmassy x
I know it will upset many of my readers by admitting that I’m already feeling a bit Christmassy. My jolly mood was sparked by two things, both of which occurred prior to eight in the morning. First, I heard my youngest sister announce there was only fifty-one days till Christmas – an extremely small number of days considering the amount that is required for us to achieve. Second, I discovered, while scrolling through the paper, that the John Lewis Christmas advert was released. To give you some background info, I am a John Lewis Christmas advert nerd, it has and always will signify the beginning of the festive season, and I analyse the tiny clip as if I were taking a degree in it.
Now, I don’t want to spoil the advert for you, so I won’t dwell too much on my opinion on the content, besides saying that I enjoyed it, wasn’t wowed by it, but the sentiment was there. What I will comment on is how early it has been released. Usually, John Lewis provides the grand finale of Christmas ads, the one we wait so eagerly for as we sift through supermarket sing-alongs and reminisce over Christmas ads of the past – Monty the Penguin was a favourite of mine. But no, this year it’s been released so early that we’re still yet to celebrate Guy Fawkes’ failed attempt to blow up parliament.
I have a theory for this early release, and it lies in John Lewis’ fear for their competitors. Waiting till halfway through November creates anticipation, high expectations, and most worryingly for Mr. J Lewis, a plethora of new Christmas ads available to compare and contrast with. Thus, early release allows the element of surprise, plus very little expectations, and no mini movies about carrots that will somehow manage to be far more emotive, comical, and relatable.
The realisation that Christmas is soon approaching has sparked a new fear in my mind, the arrival of Spotify Wrapped. This signifies a day when our music tastes are revealed to us and the few who take immense pride in this revelation choose to display it via social media so that we can, well, I don’t know how we’re meant to respond, congratulate them, I guess.
My worries lie in the knowledge that after last years Wrapped I vowed that Taylor Swift would not be my number one for 2025. I was doing well, diversifying my tastes and avoiding Swift up until the release of her new album. Not only has this album been on repeat non-stop since its release in October, but it’s also sent me into a listening spiral of old Taylor Swift music that I can’t seem to escape from. So, I have two options, either I accept that Taylor Swift wins again, or - the more tempting choice - I put Lily Alen’s album on repeat while I sleep all the way through November in the hopes that she might overtake Taylor in the running to first place.
Is this too extreme a measure to take in an attempt to look cool? Probably, but considering I once spent over a hundred pounds on shoes that make my feet look like dinosaurs in the name of looking ‘cool’, I’d say no, no its not.
P.S. one final note on this year’s John Lewis Christmas ad - I wasn’t too keen on the ending of where we were made to watch father and son dance together while mother and daughter were left to lay the table, it felt like an unwelcomed flashback to the 1950s, my sister describe it as “waking up to a light dose of the patriarchy”