John Lewis forced to pull dancing boy ad – over “misleading” insurance info

The ad has been withdrawn.

A John Lewis advert featuring a boy accidentally wreaking havoc on his home while playing has been pulled by the retailer. The advert, which depicts the young boy wearing a dress and dancing joyfully around his home, has received much criticism online, for the simple fact that it depicts a young boy wearing a dress. The gaul. This, thankfully, is not the reason that the advert has been pulled from the air. John Lewis confirmed this week that the advert will no longer be running as it provides "misleading" and "confusing" information about the retailer's insurance package. The advert shows the boy unintentionally damaging his parents' home by knocking things over, drawing on the walls, and smashing vases - all the while dancing to Stevie Nicks' Edge of Seventeen.

“You may have seen our ‘Let Life Happen’ advert for our new home contents insurance offering, which ran between 11 and 27 October 2021,” John Lewis said.

“This advert has been withdrawn because the Financial Conduct Authority considers the content to be potentially misleading and could cause customers to be confused about John Lewis’s new home contents insurance offering. This was absolutely never our intention."

The retailer went on: “The ‘Let Life Happen’ John Lewis home insurance advert was created to show a joyful depiction of a young actor getting carried away with his performance, oblivious of the unintentional consequences of his actions.

“We have decided to contact every customer who purchased our new home contents insurance cover from 11 October to 31 October to confirm they understood these points and are happy with their purchase.”

Unfortunately, most of the criticism surrounding the advert was not concerned with the "misleading" insurance information, but rather the fact that the young actor was wearing a dress. The Daily Mail called the piece a “stupidly provocative and divisive advert” while a writer for the Telegraph proclaimed it somehow “represented a terrifying snapshot of all that’s wrong with Britain right now." John Lewis have long been known for their touching and heartwarming adverts, of which this one was no different. Petition to cast this boy in the Christmas ad, anyone?