A star is born?

I have commented many times on here about Christmas advertising campaigns. For the most part I find them to be clever, insightful and thought-provoking.  The launch of the Christmas ad campaign from all the major retailers is like a 21-gun salute to a commercial Christmas, filling the air with the heady cordite of spending. The campaigns often take the best part of a year to finesse, and budgets well in excess of £1 million are considered money well spent because of the revenue they generate.

Given all of this, I love the offering below, from A-level student Nick Jablonka. Submitted as part of a coursework piece on the power of John Lewis advertising, it was created within a two-week window on home software:

It is a credit to Nick’s skills that the advert was mistaken by many for the real thing. Instead, it is a home-made homage, which has garnered him an appreciative audience way beyond the classroom. Perhaps it is skill, rather than money, which speaks…