When it comes to your brand name, it’s important to look into everything before deciding on one. John Lewis have found this out the hard way by not being able to claim the Twitter account under their name. Why? Well, it’s already owned by a man called John Lewis.
It’s that time of year again. We’re in November now which means Christmas is right around the corner. It also means retailer John Lewis have released their Christmas advert ahead of the festive season. While this is something many people look forward to each year, one man might not.
John Lewis is also the name of a computer science educator from Virginia. He likely lived a very normal life before creating his first Twitter account. When he signed up to Twitter in 2007, he could have never expected what was to come…
Having the same name as a huge, well known department store meant he was overwhelmed with messages from people sending their feedback and complaints his way. The problem was, he had no connection to the retail giants. Instead, he would have to explain to every person that the account they were looking for was actually @JohnLewisRetail. It’s definitely an easy mistake to make. We all just presume each brand or company was able to claim their name on social media. Unfortunately, this time a normal guy got there first.
No one can blame him, after all, his name really is John Lewis. The best bit about it though is that he now seems to thrive off the attention that comes with it. He really plays along well. His bio in fact states “Computer science educator, father of four, social liberal, atheist, and not a retail store.”
Retail or not retail?
It began with him correcting people when they’d reach out to him about a faulty item, he’d point them in the right direction of the retail store. Now, it’s become a running joke and every year he gets involved with the festive fun. After all, the UK go wild for a John Lewis Christmas advert each year, so he really will be inundated with messages each time one is released.
Here in the UK, when John Lewis release their Christmas advert, you know the holidays really are on their way. It’s something we look forward to and really get critical about each year. If it doesn’t top the previous year, people will have a lot to say. This is where Twitter legend thrives each year. In 2018, he even found himself doing a spin-off of the John Lewis advert. He created his own version and released it to his thousands of Twitter followers.
Sure, he could have sold his Twitter username, I’m sure the company have asked him multiple times, but now he’s a treasure. He’s certainly loved on the social media platform, and let’s be honest we all rush to see the John Lewis Christmas advert and then head straight to @johnlewis to see the man himself react. It’s all just a bit of fun and with him stating in his bio he isn’t a retail store, it means it’s easy to avoid confusion.
The company John Lewis have just released their new advert for 2021 which you can watch below. We’ll certainly be watching the Twitter stars account closely to see what he has to say about it all. Come on, when will we have a year when they have him tell his story as the Christmas advert? Sure, we all love the messages they give out, but having him featured would be one to never forget.
