John Lewis, the British retailer famed for its heartwarming holiday commercials, has become embroiled in yet another ad controversy this week after being accused of copying in its choice of music track for this year's Christmas film.

Just weeks after being forced to pull an insurance ad featuring a little boy trashing his home while dressed in his mother's clothes, the company has issued a denial after a claim by alt-folk duo The Portraits that the track, a cover of '80s hit "Together in Electric Dreams" by Giorgio Moroder and Phil Oakey, closely resembles a record it released for charity last year.

In the "Unexpected Guest" commercial by Adam&Eve/DDB, which depicts a boy meeting a space traveler at Christmas time, the more subdued version of the pop hit is performed by up-and-coming singer Lola Young.

The Portraits claimed in a Facebook post that they had emailed the marketing department at John Lewis in March suggesting it use their cover, featuring female vocals from the teenage daughter of the artists. The Portraits had created the track in support of bereavement and mental health organizations during the pandemic.

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"In offering our song to John Lewis's Head of Marketing, as we did in March 2021, as so many had told us how much like a John Lewis ad it was, we had a (perhaps naive) dream that we could use a future ad by the company with our soundtrack linked to it to maximize the funds going to those charities, at a time when a representative of one of them told us they were struggling to answer all of the desperate calls for help which were flooding their phone lines," says the Facebook post. "But instead, it seems John Lewis went with the idea and produced a version borrowing the 'feeling' and many elements of the arrangement of our version, without even letting us know they were planning to do so."

Firm denial

John Lewis retaliated with a firm denial. It issued a statement as follows: "There’s no substance to the claims as the person contacted by email left at the start of the summer and had no involvement in this year's Christmas ad. The music that accompanies the ad is always the final element to be added and this year was chosen at the end of October. The creation of advertising and music is carried out solely by our agency and we are unable to read or consider ideas from other external or internal sources."

In an email to Ad Age, a spokeswoman added, "'Electric Dreams' wasn’t even considered as an option for the ad until October—and even then it was one of a number of options on the table. We only made a decision to proceed with 'Electric Dreams' in late October when we commissioned various artists to record the track, both male and female."

"There are many covers of the original version of 'Electric Dreams' in the public domain—it's a really famous track and we pay royalties to use it. We are well-known for doing acoustic versions of covers in our ads."

She added that there were several differences between the arrangements, including a different key, solo vocals as opposed to choral and an alto voice, as opposed to soprano. Adam&Eve/DDB, meanwhile, referred all enquiries to John Lewis.

One of the world's most high-profile advertisers thanks to its award-winning campaigns, John Lewis increasingly seems to suffer from backlash to its success. The brand and its agency have previously been accused of plagiarism by several children's book authors who have claimed that the retailer borrowed ideas for its ads directly from its stories. 

Such claims have not led to legal action, and in this case, it is not threatened; instead, according to The Guardian, The Portraits have asked that the company “make a donation to both of the charities and acknowledge our work.” 

The John Lewis spokeswoman told Ad Age: "We've been doing a great deal to help those impacted by COVID. We already support numerous charities with our 'Give a Little Love' activity, which started last Christmas to help those impacted by COVID and has generated £8m so far. This has included donations to both local branches of Mind and to Cruse Bereavement care at national and local levels. Additionally we are helping NHS Charities Together through the sales of our rainbow bauble."

As the latest row comes on the tails of the insurance ad debacle, and at a time of major changes at the retailer, it will inevitably lead to further speculation about both its relationship with Adam&Eve/DDB and the future of its blockbuster ads. The retailer's representative said that Adam&Eve/DDB "continue to be our creative advertising agency."

John Lewis has seen a number of management changes including the departure of long-time marketing chief Craig Inglis. A new chair, Dame Sharon White, joined the retailer in 2020 and has instigated multiple changes, including axing the company's "Never Knowingly Undersold" pledge. John Lewis has closed around a third of its physical retail stores this year as it moves more retail online. The company is also currently reviewing its media account, held by Manning Gottlieb OMD.