"Never Knowingly Undersold"

4 September 2025

1 min 40s

A hundred reasons why.

A hundred years is captured in 100 seconds in this landmark ad for John Lewis from Saatchi & Saatchi, and directed by Kim Gehrig. Made to look as though it's one sweeping shot across a landscape representing the last century, it wisely issues chronology in favour of an even representation of all of the different decades (and this usefully allows the ad to gloss over the troublesome 1939 to 1945 period).

It's been made to mark the centenary of 'Never Knowingly Undersold', the linguistically complicated claim about the department store's competitiveness when it comes to price. The retailer actually dropped the slogan in 2022, only to reintroduce it two years later, and they're obviously getting right behind it again now.

The ad benefits hugely from an unusual version of Sonny & Cher's 'The Beat Goes On' recorded by Mike Skinner, in an upbeat mode. His playful performance is the feelgood glue that binds the whole thing together, and, given this brand's long-association with cover versions at Christmas, cleverly adds to another of John Lewis's advertising traditions.

The press release reveals that the ad contains a hundred products that are available at the brand's outlets, but that's a layer too far for an ad that's largely going to make its impression by reminding punters that John Lewis is part of the fabric of our lives. A useful reminder of its reliability as other fabrics of life in the UK come unstitched.

UK

Department Stores