The countdown to Christmas has officially begun, with British retailer John Lewis unveiling their annual, anticipated Christmas advert for 2023.
This year's advert, titled "Snapper, the Perfect Christmas Tree", follows the story of a Venus flytrap plant who unexpectedly appears during a young boy's quest to grow the perfect Christmas tree.
The advert is set to the music of celebrated classical singer Andrea Bocelli, who sings new track Festa (meaning celebration in Italian), written and produced by Italian duo Le Feste Antonacci especially for John Lewis.
The clip begins with a young boy, played by eight-year-old Teddy Holton-Frances, who asks his gran for a "Grow Your Own Perfect Christmas Tree" kit. After purchasing the kit, the Teddy returns home with a seed, determined to cultivate the perfect festive fir, but as the plant begins to grow, something - or someone - slightly different arrives instead.
Along comes Snapper, an energetic and mischievous Venus flytrap who is embraced by Teddy but initially shunned by his mum, gran and sibling, who cast Snapper out into the cold as he continues to grow, replacing him with a conventional Christmas tree instead.
When the big day arrives, Teddy takes a trip out to see his new friend, taking a present from the tree with him. The Venus fly trap snaps the gift up, seeming to gobble it down as food, but after a second the whole family see Snapper spit the now-unwrapped presents back out for them to enjoy.
"Let Your Traditions Grow" reads the advert strapline, with the message stressing that embracing the unexpected over what's considered "perfect" can actually lead to a happier time all round.
Andrea Bocelli's new single Festa for the advert will raise money for childrens charities including The Andrea Bocelli Foundation and the John Lewis Partnership's Building Happier Futures Charity Partners - which works with Action for Children, Home-Start UK and Who Cares? Scotland.
"Lots of people tell us that the John Lewis ad kicks off the Christmas season for them," says Rosie Hanley, director of marketing at John Lewis.
"So bringing all that together, we were like, do you know what – it feels like it's a year for a bit more joy and a bit more uplifting. We wanted to bring back the Christmas magic and entertain. We wanted to have a little fun and hopefully that comes through."
Several other retailers dropped their Christmas adverts earlier in November, including Morrisons, Sainsbury's, ASDA and Marks & Spencer.
Many of this year's adverts feature a number of stars of stage and screen, with musicians Michael Bublé and Rick Astley respectively lending their vocals to the ASDA and Sainsbury's adverts.
Meanwhile, Ted Lasso star Hannah Waddingham, Queer Eye's Tan France and The Marvels actress Zawe Ashton all appeared in Marks and Spencer's main Christmas advert.
