Code-X (85)

By: Louise Jolly
December 20, 2015

Waitrose 2014
Waitrose 2014

Call this British cultural code: LONELY XMAS CHILD.

Definition: A popular code in middle-class UK TV advertising at Christmas time. Tells the story of children lost in their own solitary narratives, going on emotional journeys by themselves, learning life lessons to which their parents and friends are oblivious.

John Lewis 2014
John Lewis 2014

Notes on this code: In middle-class US and UK culture, there is nothing like ‘going it alone’. Learning life lessons by yourself is character-building; community always comes second to the individual self, even at the most sociable time of year.

John Lewis 2015
John Lewis 2015

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Categories

Codebreaking, Semiotics