With the release of 2014’s much-hyped John Lewis Christmas ad, spare a thought for the owner of the Twitter handle, @JohnLewis – a US science teacher with the patience of a saint.
.@ChrisPhilpot And it's not easy to batten ones hatches and gird ones loins at the same time, let me tell you.
— John Lewis (@johnlewis) November 5, 2014
With Twitter users rushing to congratulate the British shop on crafting a charming short about a boy and his penguin-friend Monty, the real John Lewis is gearing up to politely redirect them to the retail giant.
In a classic case of mistaken identity and Twitter-handle proprietariness, last year’s ‘Bear and Hare’ advert saw the American gain 5,000 Twitter followers overnight.
And now he's bracing himself for another year of pointing out they mean the other John Lewis.
But credit where credit is due, the man responds to their well wishes and congratulations with warmth and politeness:
.@ProfilesEcom My fav is from 2019, in which P.M. @mermhart decrees that all spandex... Wait, am I time traveling again? @johnlewisretail
— John Lewis (@johnlewis) November 5, 2014
Speaking to the Telegraph, Lewis said he doesn’t really mind all the messages, and that he finds them funny: ““I can’t tell you why exactly I started participating. It seemed like they were trying to get something accomplished, and I thought I should clarify. So I clarified. Then I started having fun.”
The retailer also seems to appreciate Dr Lewis’ efforts; last year the company, which spent almost €9m on this year’s advert, sent him a box of Christmas decorations, a book on the history of the shop, and a new MacBook Pro.
But the British chain is not the only John Lewis causing Dr Lewis a problem; as the following tweet shows, he'll send anyone looking for another John Lewis in the right direction:
.@GKButterfield And I'm honored to have the same name as your friend, but on twitter he goes by @repjohnlewis
— John Lewis (@johnlewis) November 4, 2014
