All of the John Lewis adverts… ranked!

The department store has a tradition stretching back to 2007 by releasing a sentimental campaign in early November, usually complete with an acoustic ballad.

Alison Limerick’s 90s club hit Where Love Lives provides the soundtrack to the ad for this year and it has already clocked up millions of views online.

Here is how we have ranked all of the other ads since they became synonymous with Christmas in 2007.

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All the John Lewis Christmas adverts (2007- present) ranked from worst to best

Unexpected Guest (2021)

There was a sense when this one dropped that we were watching the worst… The tale of an alien visiting and getting things wrong felt a bit too over the top for a series that took pleasure in the simple things. Lola Young’s Electric Dreams is the best thing about it.

Monty the Penguin (2014)

Monty is a poor man’s Feathers McGraw and the advert is basically a penguin version of the storyline of The Journey, released two years prior. Also, Tom Odell’s Real Love might be the most forgettable of all of the songs on this list. Not a great show.

Give a Little Love (2020)

Lockdown surely presented a great opportunity for some gift giving from afar, or video call fun but we’re left with what feels like a greatest hits, clip show of amalgamated ads and styles with this one. Not a Christmas to remember, nor a Christmas advert to cherish.

From Me to You (2008)

A simple advert without any particular heart or anything that would live long in the memory - back when John Lewis still felt the need to show off all of its stock.

Man on the Moon (2015)

A decade before Live ‘25, Aurora performs a stripped back version of Oasis’s Half the World Away, but maybe the music is the best thing about a slightly plodding ad.

Step into Christmas (2018)

Elton John already had associations with these adverts (see Your Song) but here he is given full reign - and this career retrospective is weirdly forced, and inferior to the 2010 original.

Shadow (2007)

Not really a sign of things to come - but not a bad ad either, this minimalist advert showed off a lot of the John Lewis stock without any pomp or sentiment.

Your Song (2010)

John Lewis was only warming up on the schmaltz for one of its early ads, with a greater focus here on all of the gifts on sale rather than an underlying message. Ellie Goulding performed Elton John’s Your Song in what became a tradition of having a big name cover.

Sweet Child of Mine (2009)

Much-like 2010, there is nothing much to distinguish this early effort beyond the music - with Taken by Trees covering Guns N’ Roses. Not much else to say about it.

Edgar the Dragon (2019)

Could John Lewis have done more with a cute dragon in a Victorian era village than have Edgar light their Christmas pudding? They played it safe. This one came at peak production values and toy sales for the chain as well as millions of online views. So no wonder Edgar’s fire left ice pond dancers only straddled in water, rather than drowning.

Moz (2017)

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind director Michel Gondry did this one, but there is more than a hint of Miyazaki here with a monster keeping a boy awake at night. I’m confused though if the monster is a friend or a menace?

Buster the Boxer (2016)

A middling effort from the middle of the decade: a relatable start with a dad struggling to put up a trampoline leads into a classic animal-focused storyline. Not sure if Buster is memorable enough to warrant his own hashtag at the end, but this was #2016.

Where Love Lives (2025)

This latest entry is the first time the department store has focused on a father and son relationship. He unwraps the vinyl and heads straight to his record player, with the ad cutting to him dancing in a 90s club before flashbacks show him remembering his son as a toddler and a baby. It's proof the ads can still be stirring after 20 years.

Venus Fly Trap (2023)

Nothing new about a child’s unlikely friendship being rewarded in a final scene giveaway - but the giant venus fly trap and opera backing made for some fun viewing.

The Journey (2012)

Gabrielle Aplin’s epic take on The Power of Love gives this one a tragic quality - although perhaps a tale about snowmen coming alive isn’t the most original?

The Beginner (2022)

Getting the series back on track after a run of duds, this one showed a man struggling to learn to skateboard. And right when we think the big reveal is going to be John Lewis’s finest safety equipment, we’re given a timely call to action about foster care.

Bear and the Hare (2013)

A fully-animated, almost Disney-like creation for 2013 is soundtracked by Lily Allen’s rendition of Keane’s Somewhere Only We Know. Cosy and heartfelt.

Sisters (2024)

A huge break in tradition, an advert actually set in… John Lewis! A woman follows a Narnia-esque trail through some clothes to relive some classic Christmas moments with her sister. To top the tender portrayal is maybe the pick of all of the songs, The Verve’s Sonnet.

The Long Wait (2011)

This one changed the game. Perhaps the first dedicated effort at having one narrative and a heart-tugging message. Slow Moving Millie’s Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want provides a gentle backing to a boy wishing advent away… to give a present to his parents.