Spoiler alert: it went down about as well as the Trafalgar Square Christmas tree did.
Unless you live under a very large rock, you’ll know the John Lewis Christmas advert dropped today. Unlike previous years, there hasn’t immediately been a tidal wave of tears and Christmas cheer, as the UK appeared distinctly underwhelmed. As you’d expect, the good people of Twitter had something to say about it. Actually, they had quite a lot to say…
Maybe John Lewis should have lowered expectations, like this guy did:
https://twitter.com/ElectroMod/status/928937162615214080
Because the initial reaction was a little muted.
The John Lewis advert then… #johnlewischristmasadvert pic.twitter.com/yhOZM74Vkh
— James (@james1508) November 10, 2017
Feel blue balled by the John Lewis Christmas ad, such high expectations #johnlewischristmasadvert
— V🍷ck🍷 (@Vicki_Potter) November 10, 2017
People started to wonder, was it really worth the money? (No)
£7,000,000 and I feel nothing. #johnlewischristmasadvert
— Rach (@rachredmond) November 10, 2017
Or whether the ending was a touch dark?
Synopsis: Child finds a loyal, loving and caring friend and then murders him with a nightlight – Perfect narrative for Christmas, obviously… #MozTheMonster #johnlewischristmasadvert #Fail
— Adam Kearley (@Adam_Kearley) November 10, 2017
https://twitter.com/revjoehaward/status/928994694301978624
Not even the Moz the Monster cuddly toy escaped criticism.
The new #MozTheMonster toy from #JohnLewis reminds me about the struggles of online dating… #ExpectationVsReality 😂🙈 pic.twitter.com/srdRNSkcMq
— Samantha Quek (@SamanthaQuek) November 10, 2017
That’s before the unintended side effects:
My two year old daughter is terrified of #MozTheMonster. Keeps checking under the bed. 😱 #johnlewischristmasadvert @johnlewisretail pic.twitter.com/fQ8HxyJRK0
— Anthony Davis (@theanthonydavis) November 10, 2017
When you have already been trying to convince your 4 year old there are no such thing as monsters and you see #johnlewischristmasadvert 😂🙈
— Dannielle Dacey (@dannielle_dacey) November 10, 2017
Could have been worse though. MUCH WORSE:
I haven't watched the #johnlewischristmasadvert yet. What does #MozTheMonster do? Creep into your house & replace all your Smiths albums with Morrissey solo albums?
— Colleen Hawkins (@Lady_Colleen) November 10, 2017
Quickly bored, Twitter started casting around for Moz the Monster lookalikes.
#johnlewischristmasadvert first impressions…. the resemblance is uncanny #MozTheMonster 🤣 pic.twitter.com/gBuSHG7bYg
— Shelley Martin (@Shelley_Martin1) November 10, 2017
Or pointing out the similarities with a certain Pixar film.
7million to produce the John Lewis Christmas advert and it’s legit a remake of Monsters Ink #johnlewischristmasadvert
— Talyia Rundle (@talyiarundle) November 10, 2017
The new John Lewis advert has a total disregard for Monster safety. Clearly a 23-19 #JohnLewis #MozTheMonster pic.twitter.com/grumaWuV80
— Jack Wood (@jackandwood) November 10, 2017
https://twitter.com/SteKenobi/status/928976413243461632
Or turning it into a brand new film that we’d totally watch.
John Lewis's advert is basically a crossover between the film It Follows and the Gruffalo. Actually, that would have been more entertaining… #johnlewischristmasadvert
— Daniel Harris (@Daniel_Harris91) November 10, 2017
Some were just content to crack jokes – let’s all express our sympathy for Keef’s wife.
Wanted to get my wife a large farting monster in the bedroom like in the John Lewis Christmas ad but then realise she's got me! #johnlewischristmasadvert @johnlewisretail #MozTheMonster
— Keef (@Kelar71) November 10, 2017
Wait, is this his wife?
Cute but not as good as Monty the penguin . Sounds like my other half with the snoring and farting #johnlewischristmasadvert #MozTheMonster
— jenny (@jensddk) November 10, 2017
It’s 2017. If a politics joke can be made, it will be:
The question the nation should be asking about #MozTheMonster is whether it can serve in the cabinet. Bound to be its turn soon. #johnlewischristmasadvert
— Jonny Dyer (@KaiserJonny) November 10, 2017
https://twitter.com/katecudahy/status/928990344137584640
Some people were grown-ups about the whole thing.
https://twitter.com/Becca_March/status/928967238744510464
Some were not.
It is really stressing me out that the John Lewis Christmas #MoztheMonster has a bouncing hairless purply fleshy testicle for a nose pic.twitter.com/NhzEX5H87G
— Felicity Morse (@FelicityMorse) November 10, 2017
Sorry, had to do it… #johnlewischristmasadvert pic.twitter.com/AIN1s5T2Gv
— Darren (@DarrenDilliway) November 10, 2017
As bad as you thought it was, there’s always one guy who has it worse. This guy. Every year.
It’s that time of year again when @johnlewisretail do their Christmas ad and this poor guy in the US gets inundated by Brits on twitter…. #JohnLewis #johnlewischristmasadvert pic.twitter.com/kVW4SloW2V
— It's all over (@aruncooke) November 10, 2017
And he was prepared this time.
Trust me, no one wants to know what's under my bed. #UnderTheBed
— John Lewis (@johnlewis) November 7, 2017
In an act of Christmas mercy, John Lewis decides to change their name to the Buy Stuff Here store. #guessthejohnlewisad
— John Lewis (@johnlewis) November 9, 2017
But then again, people are certainly not holding back this year…
https://twitter.com/AlbiScrinestein/status/929004272779448320
Wow. Good luck John!