Brands jump on #BusterTheBoxer bandwagon

By on Thursday, November 10, 2016

Merry Christmas! It’s now safe to say, as the indomitable festive event that is the unveiling of the John Lewis ad hit us right in the feels today.

As promised, #BusterTheBoxer didn’t pull the emotional punch of previous ads, but it still spawned parodies, memes and other piggybacking tactics from brands.

Some were good, some not so much. Here are my picks:

Paddy Power

You get the sense over at Paddy Power HQ that someone quickly googled ‘dogs and trampolines’ and hit ‘feeling lucky’ to pull this gem out of the bag. That aside – it works. The video went live on Twitter only a couple of hours after the original, proving you don’t always need polished content to make an impression, but you do need a fast creative team and quick sign-off on ideas.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5zqNhCoeTI

The Poke

It looks like the concept of foxes and badgers on a trampoline didn’t sit well with The Poke, so they decided to add a dose of inner-city reality to the ad.

 

#BudgetBuster

Back for a second year, the guys over at My Voucher Codes challenged themselves to recreate the ad in six hours for £600 – a lot less than John Lewis’ reported £1 million.

 

Aldi – #KevinTheCarrott

The supermarket went meta and decided to make an advert about watching an advert. It’s certainly a different approach, I’m just not sure if it’s a good one. Time will tell when Aldi gets its engagement and sales figures in for the campaign.

Innocent

Last year, Innocent were concerned for Monty the Penguin (remember him?!) and his declining career in the wake of a new John Lewis advert. This year, the Man on the Moon gets the same treatment, although I would pick a free trip to the Moon over a trampoline any day. We can only imagine how ‘Jeff’ managed to handle this grumpy old man tantrum.

The Man on the Moon calls his agent, livid. “A trampoline?” He shouts. “A TRAMPOLINE? I HAD TO GO TO THE MOON, JEFF.” #BusterTheBoxer

— innocent drinks (@innocent) November 10, 2016

When even the spin-offs aren’t all that inspiring, is this the year John Lewis loses its crown as King of Christmas?

Check back in 2017…!

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