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I liked it! Glad you started this thread to discuss.
I probably liked it more because I’m a Dad now, with a 5 year old boy. And I wonder about the age and lifestyle of those who said they didn’t like.
At first I thought it was about to be total cheese, with the dad starting to dance. Then when it took him to the old school dance floor, I was like, okay, it looks like it’s going somewhere interesting, vs just some stupid Hallmark cheese where the whole family ends up dancing dancing in the living room. I liked that we were transported to Dad’s nostalgia. When the son showed up, I was like ahh, that’s how I feel: Sometimes you don’t feel a day older than when you were in your 20’s… but you also know you’ve got this grown up life. And just when I was about to think, I wish I could go back in time—they cut to the toddler walking across the dance floor. That was a strong edit, and a strong choice. That’s when you go, yeah, despite all the hardships of living this grown up life—the love you feel for your son/family, and the world you’ve created to enjoy that, it’s very powerful.
So I enjoyed it a lot. I felt it covered the soul of how I feel now in my 40’s with a grown up life and kid.
The BTS music selection is great too: https://youtu.be/9hD9bt7b2Co?si=hZDxikiGdQjhkNqs
For me the execution (writing, direction, edit et al) let down what could’ve been a great ad.
Primarily, it confuses itself with what point it’s making. Is it about a dad returning to who he is (presumably lost to age/family life - doesn’t develop this)? Is it about a dad/son who are misaligned somehow (again, we have to presume this as there’s minimal plot)? Or is it about a teen son who can’t express how he feels (another presumption as all we get is a bit of awkwardness to go on)?
The challenge then becomes it doesn’t earn the sentimentality it wants/needs due to a lack of tension/arc. I.e That gift (and the endline) was about showing you really “get them”. We, the viewers, didn’t see there was an issue with the Dad’s (past/lost/true) identity or how his son viewed him.
Of course we can approximate and piece together what they’re trying to get at, but that then interferes with how you feel watching it.
I personally felt like the music to a bit of heavy lifting, to speak to answering some of the points you bring up. And because the song was less famous in the States vs the UK, perhaps that’s where the disconnect is was.
To me, there was a lot of subtlety, and it lets you fill in the blanks while giving you enough in the broad strokes. I hear your points, but I don’t know that the spot was less powerful just because it didn’t provide every single detail on a silver platter and tell us exactly how to think.
It wears the strategy clumsily. It’s a choppy cut. Too much back and forth and lacked tonal warmth. Pass.
John Lewis ads used to be synonymous with craft. Outsourcing to AI takes that away. The quality is degraded and thus so is the brand. It would be better for them to release no ad at all.
Ai? What part of the ad was AI?