John Lewis Christmas Advert 2015: watch the Man on the Moon

A cover of Oasis’s ‘Half the World Away’ by the relatively unknown Norwegian singer Aurora Aksnes soundtracks the advert.

The two-minute clip shows a six-year-old called Lily trying to reach an old man who lives alone in a hut on the moon. She spies him through the family telescope – available to buy in stores. But nothing – bow and arrow, paper aeroplane or snail mail – can reach him.

When Christmas Day comes around, a tree is plonked in the living room, presents are promptly unwrapped, and Lily is surrounded by family. The old man gets a gift of his own: a classic telescope, delivered to him in a cloud of colourful helium balloons – not unlike the opening scene to the Pixar movie ‘Up’. There are tears when they finally lock eyes.

A cover of Oasis’s ‘Half the World Away’ by the relatively unknown Norwegian singer Aurora Aksnes soundtracks the advert. She will be hoping that advertising agency Adam&Eve/DDB can work their magic and catapult her to Christmas number one as it has done with two of the six songs picked for the John Lewis Christmas spot since 2009.

Kim Gehrig, the director, is best known for her #thisgirlcan campaign for Sport England, which celebrated women playing sports.

Around £7 million has been spent on the campaign this year, which is roughly the same as last year. While the telescope that Lily uses is available to buy in stores, John Lewis seems to have shied away from a big product push despite the analyst’s estimates that sales of a stuffed Monty the Penguin earned £18 million in revenue over the course of that campaign.

This year, John Lewis is selling merchandise associated with the campaign, including glow in the dark pyjamas, and posters that can be used to unlock parts of the Man On The Moon app, available on the iPad.

Moon pop-ups are planned for 11 John Lewis stores, where shoppers can get their photo taken and learn about the moon.