John Lewis Has Pressed ‘Play’ On Christmas - And Yes, It Still Hits Different

There are a few signs Christmas has officially begun in the UK:

The first Costa festive cup. Someone in your WhatsApp group asking if it's too early for Elf. Mariah Carey thawing. And… the John Lewis Christmas advert appearing like a gentle emotional ambush during your morning scroll.

Well, it’s here. And this year’s offering hits me right in my 90s-youth, sentimental, mid-life heart.

WATCH THE ADVERT HERE

Nostalgia With Bass, Memory & Grown-Up Emotion

John Lewis has chosen Where Love Lives  - yes, that Alison Limerick 90s club classic.

If you grew up in that era - the era of smoky dance floors, lycra skirts, body shop perfume and land line telephones - this one lands differently.

It’s not a sad-Piano-Pull-At-Your-Heartstrings advert this year, and for some that means its not 'christmassy enough'. Instead it’s a love letter to memory. To music. To the quiet, unspoken moments we store away in our memories - and the ones we get to bring back.

As women in our forties and fifties, we grew up with tracks like this as our self-expression. They were freedom. They were independence. They were the soundtracks to friendships, heartbreaks, hopes, nights we still talk about… and mornings we barely remember.

To hear it woven into a Christmas story about connection across generations? Clever. And actually very moving.

If You Can’t Say It… Gift It

The advert centres around a teenage son who struggles to express his feelings to his Dad (relatable, right? I have so many things I wish I could talk to my Dad about, but never had the chance).

So instead of talking, he gives a vinyl copy of Where Love Lives.

The music becomes their bridge - past to present, silence to understanding.

And honestly? At this stage in life, that’s exactly what gifting is for me.

We don’t need piles of stuff. We want meaning. Thought. That “I remembered this about you” feeling.

A gift that carries a memory? That’s priceless.

And as someone who now cries at ads way more than I did in my teens (joys of mid-life wisdom), this one gets me in that subtle, goosebumps way.

John Lewis Provide The Soundtrack We Didn’t Know We Needed

The ad features:

Alison Limerick’s original anthem, plus a gorgeous dreamy version by Labrinth

LISTEN TO LABRINTH’S VERSION OF THE SONG HERE

Two generations of sound - one feeling. And if that isn’t the perfect metaphor for Christmas 2025, I don’t know what is.

Also… vinyl. Tell me you’re subtly marketing to the mid-life nostalgia girlies without telling me.

And if you now want the limited-edition record, you can get it (£14.99 and profits go to young people leaving care - a cause close to many of our hearts.)

So Does The 2025 John Lewis Ad Work For Women Our Age?

I think so. It’s not tug-on-your-heartstrings in the traditional John Lewis way - it's gentler, grown-up, and rooted in memory instead of fairy lights and tears.

A reminder that:

We don’t outgrow connection. Music really is a time machine. The 90s are iconic forever (obviously). Christmas isn’t about noise - it’s about meaning.

And maybe, in our busy, overstretched, sometimes chaotic mid-life worlds…that reminder is the gift.

Whether you're the mum remembering who you were before life sped up, the daughter who still cries when the right song plays, or the woman finding her own festive rhythm again…

This advert says:

Love changes shape, but it never really leaves.

And honestly?That might be the most Christmassy message of all.

Love Tx