When you are tired of John Lewis advertising, you are tired of advertising life. 

Such is the collective excitement surrounding John Lewis’ advertising, it is almost impossible to imagine there can be any more words to write about how sensational the brand’s latest campaign is.

Created by Saatchi & Saatchi, the 100-second film, shot at 100 frames per second, features 100 actors and 100 products and celebrates a decade since the launch of the brand promise ‘Never Knowingly Undersold’ in 1925.

The return of the Never Knowingly Undersold brand promise underlines the power of consistency and simplicity in marketing. Yet the campaign’s creative execution underlines how the brand never stands still. Directed by Kim Gehrig and set to an original cover of The Beat Goes On by Mike Skinner the brand effortlessly captures an aspirational portrait of Britain which embraces nostalgia by hitting all the right notes.

It’s a creative execution which deserves the outpouring of industry love it has so rightfully received. While industry big wigs have converged on the longevity of the strapline as the key to its success, the story behind the story underlines that if you care passionately about the creative work, that passion has to extend to the people who make it.

Writing on LinkedIn, Brodie King, Creative Director of the spot, shared the story of the work behind the work was ‘a feat of choreography on and off screen.’

She wrote: “When Franki Goodwin [Chief Creative Officer at Saatchi&Saatchi]  asked me to run John Lewis in January this year I replied ‘I’d love to, but I’m pregnant.’ It was still early days, but the ‘but’ held the self-limiting thought that I wouldn’t be up to it. She told me that if I wanted to go for it, the team would do all they could to make it work.”

An ethos that not only made the work behind the work run seamlessly, but arguably made the work itself extra special.

In an industry that still perpetuates the mother of all myths: that motherhood is a creative full spot, this work and the ethos of the team behind it proves that anything is possible.