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Movies & TV

23rd Nov 2018

WATCH: Tearful viewers call on John Lewis to hire filmmaker over £50 Christmas advert

Oli Dugmore

I’m not crying

Filmmaker Phil Beastall has produced a low budget Christmas advert with more emotional gravitas than this year’s offering from John Lewis.

The project, entitled ‘Love is a gift’, focuses on a young man counting down the days to Christmas but on December 25, instead of being surrounded by loved ones and festivities, he sits alone at a kitchen table.

He plays a cassette to hear a message from his mother, an apparent Christmas tradition since her death. It is her final tape, and the man is reduced to tears.

The film ends with the message: “Love is a gift, that lasts forever. Merry Christmas.”

Beastall originally published the video in 2014 but reposted it this year after John Lewis published their own advert.

After being viewed more than five million times, commenters are now calling on John Lewis to hire Phil for their 2019 production, although we expect that’s already in production and the next free slot likely in the mid 2020s.

One posted: “In tears. I have no words except John Lewis, tell your advertising team they [are] sacked. Stop plugging Elton John’s song and get this man to do your adverts.”

Another read: “Best advert ever, maybe John Lewis should pay him a million.”

Have a look for yourself below and just wait for the waterworks to start…

Clip via Phil Beastall – Filmmaker and Video Producer

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