John Lewis has been turning the most wonderful time of the year into the most emotional time of the year for 15 years now.
The department store released its first Christmas advert back in 2007, and since then, we’ve all taken part in the annual tradition that is sobbing over monsters named Moz, trampolining dogs and of course that poor old man living all alone on the moon.
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Presumably less excited about all of the above is John Lewis, a computer science teacher from Virginia who shares a name with the British shop chain. John’s Twitter handle happens to be @JohnLewis, meaning he’s often inundated with messages meant for the department store, especially around Christmas. That said, John took to social media shortly after the release of this year’s ad to explain why it resonated with him.
For anyone who hasn’t watched the advert yet (what are you playing at?) this year it follows a middle-aged man attempting to learn how to skateboard before Christmas rolls around.
It turns out he and his wife are fostering a child with a love of the sport, so he wants to learn to skateboard himself in the hopes it’ll help her settle into her new home.
Oh, and the above is set to a lovely, soul-destroyingly sad festive cover of Blink-182’s Small Things.
Sharing the ad for the first time, John Lewis (the shop) posted the footage alongside a tweet that acknowledged John Lewis (the person) was about to be swarmed with messages.
The retail store’s tweet read: “This is a public information message for @JohnLewis: Our Christmas ad launches tomorrow. Apologies in advance for your mentions, we hope you haven't got any plans.”
John (the person) re-shared the video and added a message of his own, revealing he was particularly fond of this year’s advert because his four children were adopted.
He wrote: “Cheers. The ad is great. As the father of four adopted kids, I can relate.”
John’s followers were quick to share supportive messages, with one person writing: “Thank you for sharing about your family. I'm adopted. And I have extra space in my heart for people who create families in different ways.”
Another added: “Isn't it wonderful? And how lovely that it has special meaning for you.”
“John, your legend status just gets higher and higher every year,” penned a third social media user.
John Lewis (the store) also replied to John’s tweet, writing: “Once again, we couldn't be prouder to share a name with you.” We’re not crying, you’re crying!
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