John Lewis

Sometime over the weekend of 13th/14th November my daughter and I saw the John Lewis Christmas advert on television. We both had the same reaction, that it was not right - or even Christmassy - to show the dog in the advert stuck out in the snow in an old-fashioned, doorless kennel. Then the program we were watching came back on and we forgot about it. When I went onto the Internet on the following Monday morning, the doggy circles in which I move were awash with people complaining about the advert - the inadequate shelter, the isolation of the dog - and it was clear that I was not the only one who hadn't liked this advert. Many people were advocating contacting

The John Lewis Christmas advert contains scenes that many dog lovers have found offensive. I started a Facebook page which 1000 people joined in the first twenty four hours, and there is a petition too which within a day had over 1000 signatures.
 
John Lewis ignored us, then they fobbed us off then they misled us. This is the email that was sent to me, it is this wording which caused a story to run in my local paper which was picked up by the Telegraph (who did not contact me) :

The John Lewis Christmas ad issue rages on. There are over 1000 people on the Stop the John Lewis Christmas Ad Facebook page and nearly 700 on the petition objecting to the advert. I'm still currently waiting for a phone call from the PR dept to tell me what their reaction is.
 
I have had an email from them which was just a standard one sent out to many people:

There seems to be so much unhappiness about the John Lewis advert that we have created a Facebook page called Stop the John Lewis Christmas Ad. If you're on Facebook please do visit that page and watch the advert; and if you feel moved, complain to John Lewis. This ad from a very well UK department shop is sending out a dreadful message about the conditions in which it's acceptable to keep a dog.

Have you seen the John Lewis Christmas advert? If you have, did your heart sink at the scene where the dog was left outside in the snow with just a fairly ramshackle kennel for shelter? If so and you'd like to complain, you can email John Lewis to register your views. Apparently John Lewis have said they are aware of the problem, but of course, the more complaints they receive, the more urgently they will sort things out.