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The much-anticipated joint Christmas campaign from John Lewis & Partners and Waitrose & Partners encourages the nation to "give a little love" alongside a drive to raise £4m for two charities.

Inspired by the British public’s response during the coronavirus pandemic, the film takes a different creative approach from John Lewis’ previous festive ads. Rather than a long-form narrative, the spot comprises nine different vignettes and styles of animation, which illustrate everyday acts of kindness. In another departure, for the first time in John Lewis’ Christmas advertising history, the soundtrack is an original song instead of a cover. British soul singer and Brit Award winner Celeste wrote and composed the track, called A Little Love. 

The vignettes span art forms from claymation to CGI and were created by eight different artists, including Chris Hopewell, who has created music videos for Radiohead and Franz Ferdinand, and French animator Sylvain Chomet. There is also a second, complementary 30-second ad focused on the charity element of the campaign and created by four post-graduate students from Kingston University. In both spots, the retailers enlisted the artists and students to support the UK’s creative industries, which have been hard hit by the pandemic. 

Both films were directed by Oscar Hudson through Pulse Films. 

John Lewis and Waitrose are aiming to raise £4m for two charities: FareShare, which helps those facing food poverty, and Home-Start, which works with parents who need support.