John Lewis has combined 1990’s Where Love Lives and the power of festive gifts for its 2025 Christmas advert.
The song, which has been remixed, covered and rereleased several times, provides the background for the ad which focuses on a teenage son who uses music as a medium to express the feelings for his dad he can’t find the words for, ending with the strapline: If you can’t find the words, find the gift.
Created by Saatchi & Saatchi, the ad takes viewers to Christmas Day in a family household. Passing a son who’s in his own world with headphones on, the focus shifts to the Dad, who is by the tree on his hands and knees clearing up discarded wrapping paper. Amongst the wrapping paper, he discovers an unopened present marked Dad with a smiley face.
Inside is a vinyl record of the hit, which transports him to the 1990s he remembers and loves. Viewers are then taken on the father’s journey as he loses himself in the music. In a 1990’s club, dancing with his friends he spots his teenage son across the crowd. Calling out to him, the son begins to fade beneath the flashing lights as the music swells. In the flashes of the strobe lights, he calls for his son who – not as a teen, but as a toddler, takes his first steps towards him. Another flash, and the dad holds his newborn son bundled tightly in his arms. The music becomes a bridge between memory and love, between then and now.
The scene shifts back to the present day, as a new version of the song – by Labrinth – echoes softly. The father is in the living room when his son comes down the stairs and catches him enjoying his gift. The son looks on, slightly embarrassed, until he is pulled into an embrace. They share a quiet, unspoken moment – a wordless thank you, carrying the weight of ‘I know we aren’t as close as we used to be but I love you.’
