Huw Williams
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Huw Williams
@huwrw.bsky.social
81 followers 160 following 6 posts
A very civil engineer.
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Reposted by Huw Williams
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Like Bond themes or April Fools’ hoaxes, the John Lewis Christmas ad is one of those recurring objects that may once have made sense as a fun little regular thing, but has now collapsed under its own cultural weight, amid a sense that everyone involved in writing, directing, sharing and watching them is performing jury duty. And yet. Perhaps nothing about this ad fascinates me more than the fact that, for all my cynicism and urbane wit, that single shot of a toddler running into his father’s arms got me. Like a marionette, conscious of his strings but powerless to command them, I watched, if only for a second, as that unearned schmaltz dart hit my quivering eyelid and wobbly lip, dead on. This is what John Lewis ads are: objects that now function – that are built to function – less like coherent short films and more like bunker-buster munitions: deceptive hardware designed to penetrate our battlements and provoke an almost pneumatic sentimental response. Where once their psychological weaponry was charmingly ornate, disguised by craft and care, they now sail toward us in full view, fuselage stripped to the wiring, their inner workings laid bare. We can, and should, lament this reduction to crass formula, this derogation of the maker’s art. But it’s nearly Christmas. And there are gifts to buy. And you have a son. And he is always on his phone.
November 5, 2025 at 9:43 AM