Ads, read closely, one campaign at a time
Each piece takes a single ad or campaign and reads it like a primary source: what it argues, who made it, what it wants from you, whether it worked on its own terms, and what it cost. Every claim traces to a linked source, and the marketing question is kept apart from the ethical one.
Better than cash
Reading John Lewis's Gloria and Pickles
John Lewis's 20th Christmas ad has a toy dog telling a grandmother to do better than cash. Who the ad blames for the cash in the card, and whether it worked on its own terms.
- Advertiser
- John Lewis
- Agency
- Saatchi & Saatchi, per John Lewis
- Format
- 20th Christmas ad, launched November 3, 2026
- Reported spend
- Not disclosed
The five questions
- 1What it argues
- 2Who made it
- 3What it wants from you
- 4Whether it worked on its own terms
- 5What it cost
Earlier teardowns
All teardowns →-
· Political advertising
A witness against a biography: reading Ramaswamy's Acton ad
Ramaswamy's campaign says $4 million backs a one-minute ad in which Amy Acton's mother says she lies about her past. What it argues and what the record says.
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· Footwear & global brand marketing
Approved, then apologized for: Converse's Karina ad and the review step that got skipped
Converse pulled a global campaign image after critics said it evoked Klan and lynching imagery, and apologized within days. A second, similar image from a different market surfaced the same month. What the approval chain was supposed to catch, and didn't.
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· Sports betting & prediction markets
Naked, branded, on schedule: reading Novig's Sydney Sweeney campaign as a marketing document
Novig didn't stumble into the backlash. It bought it, on purpose, as a brand-awareness line item. What the ad is actually doing, and whether it worked.
Questions about sourcing or how a piece is checked? How these pieces are made, including how corrections work →