John Lewis Insurance | Tiny Dancer | 2015
A chubby girl in glasses changed everything / John Lewis "Tiny Dancer"
A girl who's a bit chubby, wears glasses, and isn't even that good at ballet dances through the whole house. That's all it takes to win millions of hearts.
The problem
In 2015, John Lewis was a brand that had been capturing the hearts of people across Britain with its Christmas ads. The job of bringing that same magic to insurance landed with adam&eveDDB.
The insight
"Every girl has been that girl at some point," said ECD Richard Brim. The core of the campaign was "Let life happen." A child running wild and carefree is also part of life — nerve-wracking, but lovable.
The idea
A little girl keeps putting her family's belongings in danger as she dances, narrowly missing the TV, the bookshelf, a piece of art, again and again. With a perfectly serious face, she performs a comically reckless ballet. The director was Dougal Wilson, and the music was by Elton John. The story itself isn't new, but the casting is everything.
What happened
Within a week of its first broadcast, it was shared 3.6 million times on social media and viewed more than 1 million times on YouTube. It also won three Wood Pencils at D&AD 2016.
Afterthought
The idea that "maybe it would have been better if the vase and the glass actually broke" really hits home. But the sharp thinking is that if they'd broken, people might not have watched to the end. It's precisely because she's a bit chubby, wears glasses, and isn't that great a dancer that everyone can think, "I was that kid too." Because she's not perfect, she's lovable.
