So John Lewis Sell 90s Vinyl, do they...?

John Lewis have managed to segway themselves into the national psyche through their Christmas ads over the last several years.

Many people look forward to what are usually tug-the-heart-strings, coming-home-for-christmas, read mawkish, warm-toned annual 'treats.

But this year's is a bit more full on....

This year's ad focuses on a teenage boy giving his emotionally constipated boomer dad a vinyl copy of Where Love Lives, which triggers an unexpected trip down ecstasy-era memory lane. Dad dissolves into a vision of 1990s rave culture — sweaty hugs, dark rooms and strobes, before coming back to reality for a father-son embrace.

I get it, this is supposed to be an amusing, heartfelt intergenerational moment of emotional recognition where the younger recognises the elder as an individual with his own identity and a colourful past.

I mean he could still go all 'We need to talk about Kevin'

But it's a bit of a weird Christmas...?

This ad is certainly jumping on an important topic - teenage boys are struggling with poor mental health which seems to be related to their inability to communicate effectively, and this picks up on this 'Adolescence Zeitgeist' so to speak. 'If you can't find the words, find the gift' is the tag line...

And the rave? I mean rave culture is not exactly the wholesome yuletide aesthetic we expect of a shop which sells cashmere throws and £30 candles. It’s hard to feel Christmassy when invited to contemplate dad’s comedown at Gatecrasher in 1996.

Being reminded that dad once spent nights on end raving in a warehouse on the outskirts of a town in Leeds or wherever is hardly the nativity.

And then there's the Gen Z angle: to a generation that's grown up with streaming, AI playlists, and TikTok micro-genres, the gift of vinyl is like gifting someone a butter churn. The whole thing feels weirdly archaeological - like a Christmas ad curated by the British Museum.---

Final Thoughts

Is the John Lewis ad touching? Yes, weirdly. Is it unsettling? Yes. Is it Christmassy? Only in the loosest, most MDMA-adjacent sense of the term.

Scariest thing is, that could be in 15 years...