John Lewis has stolen my idea in its Christmas ad, says author
JOHN Lewis faced plagiarism allegations yesterday over its new Christmas TV advert about a monster living under a little boy’s bed.
Former children’s laureate Chris Riddell accused the department store chain of “helping themselves” to his picture book for inspiration.
He posted a video on Twitter combining the John Lewis advert with pages from his book Mr Underbed, written more than 30 years ago.
The two monsters and the storyline appear remarkably similar.
“John Lewis help themselves to my picture book,” he wrote. “In this age of shrinking publicity budgets it is very generous of them to devote their Christmas advertising campaign to my 1986 book.”
He later said: “The idea of a monster under the bed is by no means new but the ad does seem to bear a close resemblance to my creation. I was struck by the similarity of the concept.”
John Lewis remained defiant last night, arguing in a statement that the “main thrust” of its story was “utterly different” from Mr Riddell’s.
“The story of a big hairy monster under the bed which keeps a child from sleeping is a universal tale which has been told many times over many years,” it said. “Ours is a Christmas story of friendship and fun between Joe and Moz the Monster. The main thrust of our story is utterly different to Chris Riddell’s.”
In 2014 John Lewis dismissed claims from some viewers that its advert that year, about a boy and his penguin sidekick, was similar to the picture book Lost And Found, by Oliver Jeffers.