The John Lewis Christmas Ad Is Here. Does It Ease the Pain of 2016, or Add to It?

Buster the boxer just wants to have fun

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It's not easy making a lighthearted commercial to cap off 2016.

Not with Brexit and President-elect Trump leaving a path of scorched earth behind them—or more to the point, ahead of them—and putting lots of consumers in the grimmest of moods this holiday. How do you find joy after such an annus horribilis?

For John Lewis, the retailer that's become the standard bearer of holiday cheer in Britain—and helped turn Christmas into an advertising showcase, the U.K.'s

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