{"id":119168,"date":"2018-11-19T11:52:53","date_gmt":"2018-11-19T10:52:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/?p=119168"},"modified":"2018-11-19T12:16:48","modified_gmt":"2018-11-19T11:16:48","slug":"how-to-hijack-christmas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/blog\/how-to-hijack-christmas\/","title":{"rendered":"How to hijack Christmas"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>The John Lewis Christmas advert has been a cultural phenomenon ever since a little boy couldn\u2019t wait to present his parents with a mystery box in 2011. In recent years, it\u2019s appeal has drawn increased competition from both traditional and new competitors all vying to be the season\u2019s best. This year, the competition is as fierce as ever but now it\u2019s the imitations, parodies and hijacks of the John Lewis [JL] advert that are stealing focus.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 20px;\"><strong>What are the benefits of a parody?<\/strong><\/span><br \/>\nDue to the status of the JL advert in society, anything that is a pastiche, or at least alludes to it, has more chance to attract attention, allowing relatively low budget campaigns to ride the JL wave.<\/p>\n<p>This is clear in a majority of the highest profile parodies that have come to light, including this single image from Lidl:<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-lang=\"en-gb\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Just because you don\u2019t have \u00a3872 to spend on a piano, doesn\u2019t mean you can\u2019t be the next Elton. <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/EltonJohnLewis?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#EltonJohnLewis<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/TakObmWfqr\">pic.twitter.com\/TakObmWfqr<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Lidl UK (@LidlUK) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/LidlUK\/status\/1063045136068808704?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">15 November 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Topping 25K likes on Twitter alone, the image has everything \u2013 Christmas-themed border, a pun that works with Lidl <em>and<\/em> the JL advert and messaging that pushes the budget-friendly angle Lidl is famous for.<\/p>\n<p>Parodies also work as part of existing campaigns. Iceland, who broke ranks early in the Christmas advert stakes and managed to gain a huge amount of coverage for its \u2018banned\u2019 advert, has since been maximising its palm oil\/orangutan angle including this simple tweet:<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-lang=\"en-gb\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">How wonderful life is when you&#8217;re (still) in the world&#8230; <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/NoPalmOilChristmas?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#NoPalmOilChristmas<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/EltonJohnLewis?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#EltonJohnLewis<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/RBOxzcN3s3\">pic.twitter.com\/RBOxzcN3s3<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Iceland Foods \u2744\ufe0f (@IcelandFoods) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/IcelandFoods\/status\/1063178577284423682?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">15 November 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><strong>In-house hijack<\/strong><br \/>\nWhile everyone from <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/pizzahutuk\/status\/1063027203477291008\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Pizza Hut<\/a> to <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/WelcomeToFrank\/status\/1063079725730541573\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Frank PR<\/a> has made use of JL advert, perhaps the greatest parody of all comes from John Lewis\u2019 sister brand, Waitrose. Part of its <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/search?q=%23toogoodtowait&amp;src=typd\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">#TooGoodToWait<\/a> campaign, Waitrose is hijacking the hijacks with this TV spot:<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/TCbVvPL_pNg\" width=\"760\" height=\"427\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>By showing awareness that brands parody the JL Christmas advert, Waitrose is effectively \u2018giving permission\u2019 for all other parodies while taking a friendly swipe at the JL ad\u2019s place in society. This is a tactic Waitrose has used before but never so explicitly.<\/p>\n<p>It also shows that the brands are very much linked, which is something they\u2019re keen to promote as evidenced by their first <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=hOmZXG19Ets\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">joint advert<\/a> in September.<\/p>\n<p>Parodies and pastiches are a great way to make tight budgets go far but require quick, reactive teams. Being able to see what\u2019s trending, especially among your competitors, allows you to join in the conversation as it happens, rewarding smart PRs.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Find out how <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/pr-software\/media-monitoring\/?clid=Blog\">Vuelio Media Monitoring<\/a> can help stay up to date with your sector and keep an eye on your competitors.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>As a special bonus, because it&#8217;s not a parody as such, here&#8217;s Twitter&#8217;s take on a John Lewis Christmas:<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-lang=\"en-gb\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Introducing the 2018 Twitter UK Christmas film, starring the unmistakable <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/johnlewis?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@JohnLewis<\/a>..<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/NotARetailStore?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#NotARetailStore<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/O32CDkbwm0\">pic.twitter.com\/O32CDkbwm0<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Twitter UK (@TwitterUK) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/TwitterUK\/status\/1064435790514716672?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">19 November 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>How can a low-budget parody of the John Lewis Christmas advert achieve great ROI? And what happens when the parody is &#8216;in-house&#8217;? <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":423,"featured_media":119169,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7365,7272,3695,7238],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119168"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/423"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=119168"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119168\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":119174,"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119168\/revisions\/119174"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/119169"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=119168"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=119168"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=119168"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}