The annual John Lewis Christmas ad ranks alongside the Super Bowl work and the Australia Day lamb ad as arguably the most anticipated TVC of the year.
And, yet again, the UK retailer delivered a superlative effort for Christmas 2018 with its Elton John retrospective courtesy of its creative agency, London’s Adam & Eve/DDB.
But now a rival agency – Fold 7 – has called out John Lewis for similarities to an ad it made for re-sale website Gumtree back in 2016.
The Gumtree ad, called “Opportunity starts on Gumtree”, showed a dad/daughter scenario as the father contemplates a second-hand piano as a Christmas gift and the life opportunities it could lead to.
Fold 7 is so adamant of the similarities of the two spots it’s even mashed the two ads together to prove the point.
Neither John Lewis or Adam & Eve/DDB have commented on the claims.
Check out the original Gumtree spot below, followed by John Lewis’ 2018 Christmas ad and the mash-up below:
Gumtree’s 2016 “Opportunity starts on Gumtree” ad:
John Lewis’ 2018 Christmas ad:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNbSgMEZ_Tw&t=8s
And Fold 7’s mash-up of the two:
https://youtu.be/PH1OXGLrbuA
