John Lewis Ad Gets Pulled - And No, Not for the Reason You Think

Earlier this month, we reported that John Lewis had released a new advert that warmed our hearts. For those unaware, the advert - for John Lewis' own home insurance package - followed a boy living his best life causing destruction around his home, whilst dancing to Stevie Nicks' 'Edge of Seventeen' and dressed in his mother's dress, shoes, jewellery, and makeup. With the tagline "Let life happen", the advert captured just some of the joyful carnage that many have become familiar within the last year as they, and their children, have been spending increased amounts of time at home during lockdowns and the pandemic. It was also a throwback to an earlier advert from 2015 in which a small girl danced around to Elton John's 'Tiny Dancer', also promoting home insurance.

The advert has since sadly been taken down, but not for reasons you might expect.

Despite over 300 complaints to the regulator about the advert, mostly seemingly in the form of pearl-clutching moralists outraged at the thought a child may dress up and make a mess, the advert was not pulled because it was considered too subversive. No, the advert was pulled because it was misleading.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) intervened in the case of the advert on the grounds it may be 'potentially misleading'. It would appear that perhaps, John Lewis Home Insurance does not cover much - or possibly any - of the damage caused by young actor Reggie.

Taking to social media to share the news, John Lewis wrote: "You may have seen out 'Let Life Happen' advert for our new home contents insurance offering which ran between 11 and 27 October 2021.

“This advert has been withdrawn because the Financial Conduct Authority considers the content to be potentially misleading and could cause customers to be confused about John Lewis' new home contents insurance offering.

"This was absolutely never our intention,” the statement continued.