Animals in Ads - John Lewis

John Lewis' 2016 Christmas spot features a bunch of animals -- a boxer dog, two foxes, a badger, a hedgehog and a squirrel -- bouncing on a trampoline. But, only the dog is a real-life animal, and even most of what we of the dog is his digital double.

All the other animals were CGI renderings. The opportunities to advertisers due to such technologies are huge. It raises the question if there will be any need for real animals in the future of advertising.

While it is said that sometimes using real animals gives a better effect in comparison to using CGI, I must disagree on an ethical level. I am strongly against the use of animals for human exploit - be it in films, advertisements, circus, magic shows or any kind of activity deemed for human entertainment.

Technology is a gift in the sense that it can draw attention and an emotional connection that (most) humans naturally have towards animals for human purposes without exploiting these animals. And John Lewis is setting a good example of how this can be accomplished - the pay-offs were huge. 

 "Buster the Boxer" is already John Lewis's most-shared Christmas ad of all time, with over 1.1 million shares and 53.5 million social media views -- and it's only mid-November.