WATCH: John Lewis releases festive Christmas advert for 2023

John Lewis has released an upbeat tale of a young boy whose grow-your-own Christmas tree turns out to be a mischievous Venus flytrap as it firmly sidesteps the nation’s woes for the festive season.

The highly anticipated advert – a long-established feature of the festive retail landscape – is titled ‘Snapper, The Perfect Tree’ and follows the boy as he lovingly nurtures the plant from a seed bought at a local market, in the belief he is cultivating a perfect Christmas tree.

The fast-growing plant becomes an equally big personality who wants to join in all the fun of Christmas, before the inevitable tear-jerking moment when he is cast out into the cold to make way for a traditional tree.

The ad’s soundtrack is an original song called ‘Festa’ – which means celebration – composed for the campaign by Italian electro-pop duo Le Feste Antonacci and performed by Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli.

The soundtrack will be released in longer form as a charity single, with a proportion of the proceeds going to the John Lewis Partnership’s Building Happier Futures charities, which help young people with experience of the care system and families in need.

Bocelli said: “I am delighted to take part in this wonderful and unique tradition of Christmas storytelling.