It's as much a staple of the Christmas season as mince pies, Fairytale of New York and annoying drunken relatives ready for a dose of drama over the dinner table. Yup - it doesn't feel right to start embracing the festive period until the annual John Lewis Christmas advert's been released, does it? And, while it's usually top secret until the day it first airs, it looks like the store's made a major blunder this time around.
One shopper spotted what looks to be the cuddly toy version of this year's character as they went about their shop; meaning we've probably had a sneaky preview before it officially lands tomorrow.
Ready for a spoiler? Say hello to what's potentially-possibly-really-quite-probably the star of the Under the Bed Christmas campaign.
The store has been teasing the ad via its @UnderTheBed2017 Twitter account over the past couple of days; and while we haven't had official confirmation it's anything to do with the campaign we'd bet you our last Oreo this is it.
After spying said toy in the Canary Wharf branch of John Lewis, the eagle-eyed shopper told The Sun: "I’ve seen the #UnderTheBed hashtag and trailers. I thought it had to be character from the adverts. When I went in to the same shop later the monsters had been completely removed from sale.
"I had a little chuckle to myself because I realised someone must have made a big mistake."
Oh, bloody hell.
So what have John Lewis got to say about all this, then? "We do not comment on speculation about our Christmas adverts," they responded.
We guess time will tell, eh?
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