Retail Christmas ads herald the festive season almost as soon as Halloween is over. This year’s promotion for John Lewis was eagerly anticipated and produced a variety of responses but also a whole host of spoofs. We’ve watched far too many men in the moon and have picked the best three for your delectation. Top of the list is the Star Wars spoof featured Darth Vader, but there are also laughs with a Father Jack parody from Father Ted and a more thought provoking version from Goldie Lookin Chain.
It’s ironic, but it’s the second week running we have featured Alanis Morrisette. Last week she was dressed as a chicken, and this week she updates the lyrics to her 1995 hit Ironic and sings the new version with James Corden.
It has been 40 years since Queen released Bohemian Rhapsody and to mark that – and pay tribute to the vocal talents of Freddie Mercury – we are featuring a sound recording of him and David Bowie singing Under Pressure. Bowie met Queen in 1981 in a Swiss recording studio to do the vocals for a song called Cool Cat. He got bored and suggested writing a new song from scratch. According to Mark Blake, author of a biography of Freddie Mercury, they began a 24 hours marathon of drinking and composing and came up with Under Pressure – the sound is amazing when you consider this was recorded before the days of auto-tune.
Meanwhile Drake (Jay Pharoah) has defended his hotline bling dance moves, pointing out that dads (Beck Bennett), teachers (Taran Killam), tax guys (Donald Trump) and Ed Grimley (Martin Short) all dance like him.
Those of you with a head for heights will love the clip of an illegal climb of the Eiffel Tower. The climb started at 1am and eventually ended with a five-hour spell of questioning in a Paris police station which lasted into the afternoon. Some of James Kingston’s shots are breathtaking. It’s not for the faint-hearted. And to end, check out Otto the bulldog who smashes the world record for dog skateboarding – honest!
1) The John Lewis Christmas Ad 2015 [The Dark Side Version] - Star Wars parody
Store wars
2) John Lewis Christmas 2015: Father Jack parody version
Ted end
3) Goldie Lookin Chain - John Lewis Christmas advert
Christmas stuffing
4) Alanis Morissette Updates ‘Ironic’ Lyrics
Digital upgrade
5) Hotline Bling Parody
Trump-tastic
6) Climbing the Eiffel Tower | James Kingston
Parisian walkway
7) Under Pressure (A-Capella) - Only Vocals
Mercurial talent
8) Otto the skateboarding bulldog
Otto-ly brilliant
9) Koala joey plays in baby basket during first ever photoshoot
Kangeroohs and aahs
10) TV Show Compilation - Doug The Pug
Pulling the pug
