People Are Complaining About 'Plug Boy' In Sainsbury's Christmas Ad

When John Lewis spent a reported £7 million on their Elton John-based Christmas advert, they probably thought they had secured the star of this year's festive ads.

But an unlikely rival emerged in the form of a boy dressed as a plug in Sainsbury's Christmas ad; a boy who is now lovingly known as 'Socketman', or 'Plug Boy'. Yet, dozens of people have complained about the boy's role in the advert.

The supermarket's ad is basically a two minute version of the school Christmas performance of every teacher's dreams. It is undeniably adorable, but while the singer's courageous performance of New Radicals' 'You Get What You Give' is enough to give you tingles, it is Plug Boy's cameo that has won the hearts of the nation.

Ten-year-old Harrison (yes that's his real name, that nobody uses anymore) runs into shot at 1 min and 13 secs into the ad, before launching himself into a socket which lights up a huge Christmas tree on the stage.

But some people are evidently unhappy with Harrison's seemingly innocent and amusing acting debut. According to The Drum, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has received 35 complaints about the advert on health and safety grounds, with people fearing that the advert may encourage children to play with plugs.

Safe to say the Socketman's faithful fan base are not best impressed by the complaints:

Yep, judging by the reaction on Twitter, it seems the 35 who complained about Plug Boy are greatly outnumbered by people complaining about the 35 people who complained about Plug Boy.

It certainly seems bizarre that someone could summon the strength to actually send a formal complaint... That's some top level Scrooging. Bravo.

via GIPHY

LADbible has contacted Sainsbury's for comment.

Featured Image Credit: Sainsbury's

Topics: UK News, TV and Film

Jake Massey

Jake Massey is a journalist at LADbible. He graduated from Newcastle University, where he learnt a bit about media and a lot about living without heating. After spending a few years in Australia and New Zealand, Jake secured a role at an obscure radio station in Norwich, inadvertently becoming a real-life Alan Partridge in the process. From there, Jake became a reporter at the Eastern Daily Press. Jake enjoys playing football, listening to music and writing about himself in the third person.

@jakesmassey