A young boy and his imaginary monster under the bed are the stars of this year’s eagerly anticipated John Lewis Christmas campaign.
The two-minute tale of friendship that develops between saucer-eyed Moz the Monster and his seven-year-old host Joe is set to a cover of The Beatles song Golden Slumbers by Manchester band Elbow for what has become a fixture in the build-up to Christmas.
Moz and Joe strike up a friendship based on a mutual love of late-night Scalextric and piggyback games, but staying awake starts to take its toll on the boy and Moz realises he must allow him some peace and quiet.
The ad is something of a return to the tearjerkers of past years following last year’s comedy bouncing dog Buster the boxer.
Director Michel Gondry, who won an Oscar as a writer of the film Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind and helmed the 1996 Levi’s “Drugstore” commercial as well as music videos for Bjork, the White Stripes and the Rolling Stones, said: “When I told my ex-girlfriend I was doing the next John Lewis Christmas film she said, ‘You have big shoes to fill, this John Lewis commercial must make people cry, don’t forget’. Last week I showed it to her and she cried. Phew.”