JOHN LEWIS | The Bear and the Hare | 2015
A Hibernating Bear's First-Ever Christmas / JOHN LEWIS "The Bear and the Hare"
A bear who sleeps through winter had never once seen Christmas. So his best friend, a hare, gives him an alarm clock so he won't miss it—a story told in just two minutes.
The problem
John Lewis is a British department store that has put real effort into its Christmas ads every year. This one was made under the pressure of having to top the year before.
The insight
The idea was that the best gift might not be a thing at all, but an experience. For a bear who hibernates and has never known Christmas, showing him his very first night of it—they landed on the idea that no gift could be more thoughtful than that.
The idea
The film combines hand-drawn 2D animation, stop motion, and 3D sets. Character design was done by Aaron Blaise, known for his work on The Lion King. The music is Lily Allen's cover of Keane's "Somewhere Only We Know." The story was rewritten more than 20 times. The very last thing you see is a single John Lewis alarm clock.
What happened
Lily Allen's cover reached number two on the UK charts, and later hit number one. 48% of viewers showed a strong emotional response, and the campaign was rated the most effective in John Lewis's history of Christmas ads. It also won awards at Cannes Lions and D&AD.
Afterthought
There's something beautiful about building the whole story around a single alarm clock. The sheer determination behind more than 20 rewrites is packed into those two minutes. Someday, I'd love to give someone a gift they'll never forget too.
Awards
- Cannes Lions Gold 2015
