Video by Evgenia Kangas

It is difficult to imagine French intellectuals having a passionate conversation about a Monoprix ad, and even the angriest American commentators don’t seem to care much about Walmart’s on-brand festive messaging. In Britain, however, we debate the highly-anticipated John Lewis Christmas ad as a vital sign of the health of the nation. It’s an odd quirk of this country - but at least this year we can analyse a genuinely good advert. After years of saccharine storylines and far too much CGI snow, John Lewis has released a moving campaign that takes the novel approach of highlighting the importance of investment in the care system (rather than simply getting us to buy more stuff). After all, this Christmas, an estimated 100,000 young people and children in the UK will spend the day in care or in other temporary accommodation. One advert isn’t going to materially change their lives, but at least it is kick-starting an overdue conversation. Read the full article here: Subscribe to The Telegraph with our special offer: just £1 for 3 months. Start your free trial now: Get the latest headlines: and are websites of The Telegraph, the UK’s best-selling quality daily newspaper providing news and analysis on UK and world events, business, sport, lifestyle and culture.