Mixed Race Couples in Christmas 2017 Adverts | Debenhams John Lewis and Marks and Spencers

I have a history of commenting on mixed race couples in the media. It started with my blog post about the 2012 Olympics Opening Ceremony, in response to a Mail Online article, which thanks to the pressure we applied, got taken down. It was offensive, out of touch, racist and factually incorrect.

Fast forward a few years.

A few days ago I couldn't help but notice that a few of the big players, namely Debenhams, John Lewis and Marks and Spencers have featured mixed race couples in their Christmas 2017 TV adverts. I was going to blog about it but thought better of it, until tonight the hubby said perhaps I should. Despite it being after midnight I couldn't get my laptop out quick enough.

Debenhams was the 1st one to come to my attention as part 1 was televised early doors with a cliffhanger and the promise of part 2 midnight Thursday night. To make sure you watched it Friday it was even splashed in print, across the front cover of our free inner city paper The Metro on Friday morning. I love the voice over by the "fairy Godmother" Ewan Mc Gregor and I get the impression that him playing with the street lighting is what gives fate a helping hand to ensure Cinderella meets her Prince.

Ewan McGregor plays a pivotal role in the You Shall film, which takes inspiration from Charles Perrault’s classic 1697 fairytale, Cinderella.

 .....

Meanwhile, the limited edition stiletto by Jenny Packham is available for £99 and comes complete with a signed card by the designer.

Source: Express.

What I love about the Express article I've linked to above is the fact that the couple being mixed race isn't even note worthy or commented upon. Maybe diversity is now normal and not remarkable. Even the tweets they've quoted just comment that the advert beats John Lewis and the only remarkable thing seems to be the inclusion of Ewan McGregor. His voice is as smooth as caramel though! But inclusion and being inclusive yay! Ticks all the boxes. Both of the actors seem to have quite a small following on Twitter, so give them some love. CJ Beckford plays the Prince and Steph Tat plays Cinderella.

There's EVEN a real life couple who look just like the Debenhams couple and they are getting MARRIED, so that's part 3 of the romance right there.

Watch the Debenhams full Christmas advert here:

The John Lewis advert is beautiful as usual. Stunningly shot and the right amount of emotion to make you go ahhhhh. I've watched it a few times and Lottie adores the monster who makes her laugh more than I have ever actually seen her laugh. A right hearty belly chuckle. I clicked on the section for shop the advert and 100% I am getting those PJs for my 2, just not sure whether to get them matching ones or red for one and navy for the other. I love that the advert includes a boy and a girl which is very relatable for me with my Lottie and Aaron. I also love that the kids are dark and not that stereotypical light skinned caramel that's become so tokenist and commonplace in the media. Yes we all know that mixed race babies are beautiful but let's not perpetuate the stigma that lighter is better, there are far far too many people in the world using skin lightening products harmfully on their faces and it absolutely breaks my heart. Let's inclusively celebrate every colour - we're all humans after all.

Watch the John Lewis Christmas 2017 Moz Monster advert here:

We didn't get to see Paddington at the cinema but a few years ago the very day it came out on DVD I bought it. We watched it once and due to the "scary lady" Aaron never let me watch it ever again. But the second they started showing trailers of Paddington 2 Aaron dug out the DVD and we've already watched it twice and I do plan this time to take my 2 to the cinema to see the second film. We were going to go yesterday but had a PJ day instead. So when I first watched this Marks and Spencers advert all I noticed was Paddington and I thought how clever of the store to collaborate with him. I was colour blind to the mixed race family (it being so normal for me, having been with my husband for 29 years since 1988) but upon watching the advert a 2nd or 3rd time I noticed. Again I was delighted to see (as you can see above) that the little girl is darker. It's neither here nor there really. Even in my own nuclear family I have Aaron who is so pale he actually only goes brown in the sun and was snow white at birth and then my Lottie who was already brown in the hospital. Despite having identical parents they have such different colouring. Aaron takes after me, Lottie takes after her Dad. It seems to feed through to their personalities too and even their bone structure. I love everything about my Lottie. I see so much of her Dad in her and she's an embodiment of our love. So paler, browner, whatever. I just can't help but notice the colour of the actors/actresses used as it's been commonplace to include mixed race kids in marketing for quite a few years now but they're always pale or so it seems to me. But with all of these adverts maybe we're making some headway into normalising the fact that couples can come from differing backgrounds. Despite my husband's parents being Nigerian and mine Irish we actually have way more in common than we have differences. We were both raised in North London, both as Catholics, same school, same University and a lot of the same family values.

Watch the Marks and Spencers' Christmas 2017 advert here:

Sorry I am not saying more, or getting a bit academic in this post but it is now 1:48 a.m. and I have church early in the morning. I've spent so long editing and sizing the screenshots and including the videos that I've not spent much time on the text of the blog post itself but perhaps I can edit and update it a little tomorrow evening. I'm calling tomorrow Sunday despite it technically being Sunday morning NOW.......... yikes! Sleep beckons.

But back to the case in point, it seems like we HAVE come a long way given how recent (1950s) the first ever mixed race marriage in the States was. How lovely that their surname was Loving:

My Dream Christmas Party Outfit

It's November now, so I give us ALL permission to use the C word: Christmas, there I said it!

I am now a stay at home Mum so no work Christmas Party for me, but a girl can dream. BUT one of my readers may indeed need some ideas so here goes.

As a Lady (I can hear you snigger if the word Lady makes you think of Little Britain as it does me) I always begin every outfit with the correct underwear.

People are starting to see through those long pants now. No, not literally. They are as opaque as they ever were, but people are seeing them for what they are, in that they just redistribute the bulge to other parts of your body, unless you wear the ones that go right up to touching your bra. The ones that end at the waist just give you a bigger muffin top than you have already, trust me, so a slip is the answer. I cannot mention a control slip though without having a little laugh to myself about this fabulously comical piece from Mid 30s Life: Pants on a Platform.

So this would be my choice: John Lewis Seam Free Control Full Slip Black, and judging by the excellent reviews it has had, I don't think I would experience what Rachel did. It's only thirty pounds too, which is quite reasonable.

I have lost weight from cycling Aaron to and from school. Actually to clarify, I don't own a scales so I cannot say definitively that my weight has changed but my shape certainly has and Daddy has confirmed it, so I think I would opt for this dress below. I am in my 40s and a size 18 and yes, I would wear this:

That beautiful Ariella Nova Prom Short Dress Black Champagne is only 149 GBP and with the pretend 250 John Lewis pounds I am playing with right now (to enter a competition) I could afford it within budget.

I only have 70 pounds left of my "budget" and I have just found the perfect thing, reduced to 70 pounds. Carvela Kitten Leather Sandals reduced to clear!

So, if you were to invite me to a Christmas Party, and I had 250 pounds that my friends is what I would wear, and I have chosen it all from the comfort of my own sitting room, all by a good old browse on John Lewis

So, what will you be wearing this Christmas?

Disclosure: this post contains affiliate links.

Too Cold to Push???? Keeping your toddler warm in the cold snap

Hi Everyone

Buggy Snuggle Review (but NOT a sponsored post)

Well we've been having a very cold snap of late haven't we?  Lots of snow.  Lots of zero degrees or lower and ALL after a very mild November, December and January.

Well a few weeks ago, the mornings were too cold for walking Aaron to nursery in his buggy; it is a 14 minute walk and at 7:30 it is very cold, even on a mild day and I don't drive.

So I got in touch with Buggy Snuggle, and bought one for Aaron.

I felt very silly as I only got it a few weeks ago and I thought Spring was round the corner - I for one am really grateful for this cold snap as I have put it to really good use. To be honest there were days where it was the only thing that enabled us to go outside.

Here are some pics:

In the queue at the London Transport Museum

Fighting the snow with Buggy Snuggle:

Warm despite the snow!!

I'd like to let brands know, that increased brand awareness can result in sales much later than the campaign itself.

For example: my close blogging friend Gingerbread House, reviewed this product a year ago! and it stuck in my mind as I knew she genuinely LOVED the product - so the minute Aaron was getting cold this year, it was the 1st product that sprung to mind.  I got to see her Buggy Snuggle in person as shown by this post, (also a year ago) so I knew it was good.

I didn't even get a fur one, I got a "simple" one (blue stripe fleece) and yet it is still ULTRA warm, and when Aaron falls asleep when we are out, he sleeps for longer, because he is warm!

The fleece is very good quality and has to be seen to be believed.  Don't go for the copy cat brands - go for the real thing - your baby is worth it.  John Lewis would serve themselves well to stock the real thing (like they used to) and care about the perfect product (and the resulting customer satisfaction) rather than the perfect margin for their Buying Teams.

I love the Buggy Snuggle as much as Aaron does as I can see how very snuggly he is (they gave the company the right name LOL).

I knew I wanted a Buggy Snuggle, as doing the school run to and from nursery I see so many buggies with the baby having a blanket over their knees and to be honest it never looks right.  It always looks either (a) like a blanket that should be kept indoors out of sight OR (b) it looks like, one kick and it'll be off.

But with the Buggy Snuggle it is below them and above them, like a sleeping bag and the zips go in two directions on BOTH sides, so once you have zipped him in, you can unzip the feet area so that they either have more freedom, or so that muddy boots can stick out.

It is a lovely company - I talked to the owner - and I highly recommend a visit to their website.

Another advantage of the Buggy Snuggle is that Aaron point blank refuses to wear gloves, and with this, he keeps his hands under the blanket, so it has helped in that area too. I believed the hype and bought the gloves that go up to the elbow - a massive £12.99 and Aaron took them off within 30 seconds - I was so cross to all the bloggers who said that they stay on! Not my experience!

It would be great as a gift, or perhaps like me, you are making a last minute purchase at nearly the end of winter to keep your baby toastie!

When I got it, I did not know the cold snap was coming, but my reasoning was that on Spring Summer days, when he is in shorts, we often stay out so long that it is cold on the way home and I think Buggy Snuggle is perfect for that, hence not strictly just a winter thing.

I leave you with this description of the one we got, the Blue Stripe Fleece:

This Buggysnuggle cosytoes is a best seller for baby boys! Our own, exclusive stripe in shades of blue printed on cuddly and very soft polar fleece. Our simple Buggysnuggle footmuffs combine 4 layers of top quality polar fleece to keep your baby warm and cosy. 

Bye for now, Liska 
xxx