What was the first John Lewis Christmas advert, what music did it play and what have the other ads been about?

JOHN Lewis adverts have been widely accepted as a Christmas tradition over the past decade.

But what was their first ever Christmas advertisement and what music was featured?

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What was the first John Lewis Christmas advert?

The first ever John Lewis Christmas advert was released back in 2007, costing the company £6million.

It was their biggest seasonal advertisement spend up to that point.

Entitled "Shadow", the ad saw a group of people put together a host of random objects they bought from the store on top of each other.

The shadow of these objects created a person wearing a scarf and their dog looking at a star in the sky.

The ad ended with the statement "Whoever you're looking for this Christmas" written on the screen.

Prokofiev's morning serenade from Romeo and Juliet was featured.

In later years John Lewis started using better-known songs.

The campaign was directed by Michael Gracey who is an Australian visual effects artist and director.

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What were their adverts like in previous years?

The beginning of a brand new Christmas tradition started in 2007 and we came to expect the same at the start of every winter.

Admittedly, at first, their adverts were a lot simpler and lacked the captivating narrative we've come to expect in the last few years.

This simplicity was reflected in the 2008 ad with various individuals and gift ideas shown on the screen one after the other.

However, 2009 was a pivotal year for their Christmas ads, it had more of a storyline and highlighted the spirit and emotions related to the family-centred holiday.

A series of children were seen opening up gifts and being exhilarated by what they had received as Sweet Child O'Mine sung by Taken By Trees played in the background.

The message couldn't have been clearer, but John Lewis put it in words anyway: "Remember how Christmas used to feel? Give someone that feeling."

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The first year the company sought the help of a famous singer was in 2010, as Ellie Goulding sang an emotional cover of Elton John's Your Song.

We saw families busy wrapping up or hiding away Christmas gifts for their loved ones, which ranged from a toy pony for a family's two little children to a stocking full of treats for a little boy's pet dog.

And, the 2011 ad was one of the most heartwarming to date.

We saw a little boy desperately counting down the days left until Christmas, visibly upset by how slow the time was passing.

The night before Christmas he ate his supper as fast as he could and ran up to his bed.

At this point, the audience was most likely thinking that the little boy just couldn't wait for Santa to come and leave him his precious gifts.

But, to everyone's surprise, he wakes up the next morning, walks right past his gifts and takes out a poorly wrapped gift box from the back of his wardrobe.

He runs to his parents' room to give them the gift, at which point you realise he just couldn't wait to give them their gifts.

YOU’VE BEEN AD How much do you remember about these Xmas adverts? Probably less than you think!

Whether it was 2012's snowman love story, 2013's story of a bear and hare's friendship, 2014's uplifting Monty the Penguin or 2015's year-jerking lonely man on the moon, John Lewis has figured out how to capture the Christmas spirit.

In 2016 we saw Buster the dog having a grand time on a trampoline and in 2017 we were introduced to Moz the Monster.

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What is this year's advert and when was it released?

This year's John Lewis advert is released TODAY - November 15, 2018.

The ad, called The Boy and the Piano, stars Sir Elton John and tells the story of why some gifts are more than just a gift.

The ad first airs on television on Thursday at 9.15pm during ITV's Dark Heart.

The budget for it has been reported as £10million, £3million more than 2017.