John Lewis, The Man, Accepts Christmas Gifts From John Lewis The Store After Christmas Advert

All he had to do was endure the mother of all Twitterstorms every year.

John Lewis - not that one - has received a large box of gifts from the store of the same name, for politely tolerating another year of being overwhelmed with Twitter feedback to its Christmas advert.

Lewis, a computer science teacher from Blacksburg, Virginia, whose @JohnLewis account has 19,800 followers, has become a minor celebrity for his unfailingly polite responses to customers who either berate or congratulate him for the John Lewis Christmas campaign, The Press Association reports.

His Twitter bio reads: “Computer science educator, father of four, social liberal, atheist, and not a retail store.”

But this year Mr Lewis once again tolerated an onslaught of tweets about the latest “Buster the Boxer” advert featuring a party of animals testing out a new trampoline, responding with the line: “Saw the ad, giggled, then opened twitter and ended in tears.”

Interesting. I saw the ad, giggled, then opened twitter and ended in tears. @johnlewisretail https://t.co/rvtYgGEOxa

— John Lewis (@johnlewis) November 10, 2016

He told one man who congratulated him on the advert: “Thanks! The one from @johnlewisretail is good, too.”

He also responded to a customer who complained that scenes of a father assembling the trampoline ruined the spirit of Christmas with the response: “You’re a Grinch! Santa was running behind, dropped off the trampoline and asked Dad for a little help.”

Mr Lewis was even asked by one Tweeter if she could do some free shopping in the women’s department, replying: “I can give you first shot at the clothes I can’t fit into any more, but that’s about it.”

On Tuesday, he posted a picture of the large box of gifts John Lewis sent him for his troubles, including a cushion emblazoned with the words: Merry Christmas @johnlewis “not a retail store”.

Received a huge package from @johnlewisretail including this amazing embroidered cushion. So cool! Thank you very much! pic.twitter.com/cIMAvPol5D

— John Lewis (@johnlewis) November 15, 2016

The package included a stuffed Buster, Sid, and Olivia from the ad, as well as Christmas crackers, ornaments, and wrapping paper! pic.twitter.com/YnP3QAwFX9

— John Lewis (@johnlewis) November 15, 2016

The cushion was made by the @johnlewisretail partner Herbert Parkinson in Lancashire. Such high quality!

— John Lewis (@johnlewis) November 15, 2016

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

John Lewis – the department store – said the latest advert had been viewed more than 52 million times on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube alone and shared more than one million times on social media - a 182% increase already on total views of last year’s advert.

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