Man called John Lewis prepares for annual onslaught of Twitter messages as 2017 Christmas advert comes out

That time of year: John Lewis is often mistaken for the high street brand on social media
Twitter
Patrick Grafton-Green10 November 2017

American man John Lewis is warming up for an annual onslaught of Twitter messages as the retail chain’s Christmas advert comes out.

The father-of-four is frequently confused for the high street brand on social media, as customers tweet him at the handle @johnlewis instead of @johnlewisretail.

And each year the long suffering teacher calmly responds to scores of users who message him in error.

The retail company will release its much anticipated promo, hailed by many as the start of the festive season, on Friday morning,

What are believed to be teasers for the trailer are already out there, along with plenty of speculation around the content of the advert.

And Mr Lewis, from Blacksburg, Virginia, has already started his trademark responses.

Referring to a hashtag widely believed to be associated with the advert, he tweeted on Tuesday: “Trust me, no one wants to know what's under my bed. #UnderTheBed.”

When mistakenly asked by one Twitter user when the famous advert would be released, he responded: "Any moment now, or so I'm told by 1.79 quadrillion people."

When Mr Lewis was asked by one Twitter user: “Where is your contribution to the Christmas advert wars?! @marksandspencer had #PaddingtonBear let’s see yours," he responded: "I'm more like Winnie the Pooh, truth be told.”

Meanwhile another person said: “Ironically #UnderTheBed is where the eternally patient @johnlewis is planning to spend the coming weeks of @johnlewisretail advert hysteria.”

Mr Lewis’ profile reads: “Computer science educator, father of four, social liberal, atheist, and not a retail store.”

Last year after being inundated with tweets, he was sent a Christmas package by shop bosses.

He wrote: "Received a huge package from @johnlewisretail including this amazing embroidered cushion. So cool! Thank you very much!"

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