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The 2024 John Lewis Christmas Advert, The Gifting Hour

London, UK – John Lewis & Partners have marked the start of the festive season with the release of their much-anticipated Christmas advert, which aired on Thursday, 14th November 2024. This year’s campaign, titled ‘The Gifting Hour’, turns its attention to the search for the perfect Christmas gift and the relationships and memories which can make a gift meaningful.

The story follows Sally, who has left her Christmas shopping a little late and rushes into a John Lewis store just 15 minutes before closing, searching for a present for her sister Lauren. As she looks through a rack of dresses, Sally unexpectedly finds herself transported through a wardrobe and into the attic of their childhood home.

What follows is a journey through the sisters’ shared memories. Sally encounters Lauren at different stages of her life, from childhood and their teenage years through to adulthood. The memories are not all perfect. Arguments, family moments, relationships and celebrations appear alongside one another, building a picture of a relationship shaped over many years.

Richard Ashcroft provides the soundtrack with ‘Sonnet’, taken from his Acoustic Hymns Vol. 1 album. Rather than commissioning a new cover version, as has become familiar with many John Lewis Christmas campaigns, the advert uses Ashcroft’s own recording, adding a strong sense of nostalgia to Sally’s journey through the past.

Eventually Sally returns through the wardrobe and into the John Lewis store, now holding the wrapped gift she had been searching for. Outside, Lauren is waiting. When she asks what took her so long, Sally simply replies, ‘You’, revealing that finding the right gift required her to think about the person rather than simply the present.

As the sisters walk away together, Lauren’s reflection in the John Lewis window appears as her younger self, bringing Sally’s journey through their shared history back into the present. The advert closes with the message, ‘The secret to finding the perfect gift? Knowing where to look’.

‘The Gifting Hour’ also puts John Lewis itself more directly into the story. For the first time, one of its stores takes a starring role in the Christmas advert, connecting the emotional story of finding a thoughtful gift much more closely with the retailer and the act of Christmas shopping.

For more information on this year’s John Lewis Christmas campaign visit John Lewis.

Discover all the John Lewis Christmas Adverts from 2007 to 2026.

By Martin Turner
Published 14th November 2024, 14th September 2026