John Lewis was accused of the imitating a song from a Somerset band in its Christmas advertisement.
The Portraits, a husband and wife from Wells, claimed the department store ripped off their arrangement for Together In Electric Dreams.
Lorraine and Jeremy Millington blasted the chain for allegedly nicking the ‘feeling’ in their version of Philip Oakey and Georgio Moroder’s 1985 smash hit.
But John Lewis hit back saying ‘there was no substance to the claims’ and added it was ‘unable to consider ideas from other external or internal sources’.
Portraits of a couple from Wells who claim that the department store stole their agreement for Together In Electric Dreams.
The Portraits wrote on Facebook: ‘Our version was a fundraising song aimed at supporting bereavement and mental health organisations that have needed the money more than ever during the pandemic…
“We had an (perhaps naive!) dream that we could make a future commercial for the company, with our song linked to it. This would maximize funds going towards charities.
“But John Lewis instead went with it and created a version that borrowed the feeling and many of the elements from our version without ever letting us know.
This band covered the song last Christmas, and it aired on BBC radio as well as ITV’s This Morning.
They claimed they reached out to John Lewis in March, asking for a possible arrangement. John Lewis didn’t respond.
Lola Young, a 20-year old singer-songwriter and sung Together In Electric Dreams for the advertisement.
It categorically rejected the couple’s allegations, saying it was ‘unable to consider ideas from other external or internal sources’.
It said: 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 statement reads.
“The music to accompany the ad is always a final element and this year, it was selected at the beginning of October.
“The agency creates advertising and music. We are not able to consider or read ideas from any other sources.
Lorraine and Jeremy Millington blasted this chain for allegedly nicking their version of Philip Oakey’s 1985 hit.
It comes after the TV advert was blasted for being ‘pathetically predictably woke’ and having too much of a ‘message’ instead of a traditional festive theme.
This ad is called “Unexpected Guest” and features a young boy who brings an alien to Christmas. Then, she returns home to her mother’s planet.
This film features Skye the space traveler, who crash-lands at the height of the festivities in the woods nearby Nathan the 14-year-old.
To her confusion, he introduces her the tradition of decorating the Christmas tree with mince pies and wearing novelty jumpers.
It was interpreted by viewers as a message about inclusion and acceptance of all people.
However, some people were less than impressed and claimed that the new campaign lacked Christmas emotions. Some even threatened to boycott retailers.