John Lewis Christmas advert 2016: What we know so far

The countdown for the must-see advert of the Christmas season has begun

Last year's Man on the Moon advert was released on Friday November 6 (Is Bounce the dog the star of the new ad?)

Christmas is still two months away but that never stopped retailers from starting the celebration early.

In recent year, John Lewis has been the one retailer that gained reputation for producing the most memorable and emotional adverts ahead of the festive season.

Here is what you can expect this year:

When can I see the John Lewis Christmas advert?

It might seem crazy to talk of a release date for a TV ad but the John Lewis Christmas advert is such big business that it does have its own 10 second teaser.

Although, the precise date is not yet known, the retailer has already promised it will be early November.

Last year's Man on the Moon advert was released on Friday November 6 and the first TV airing was during Gogglebox on Channel 4 that evening.

This means that this year it is likely to be out on Friday November 11 - in less than a week!

Why so early?

Research from consultancy firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), suggests the busiest shopping day of the season will be 23 December in 2016.

However, separate evidence seems to indicate the Christmas shopping season starts much earlier than that.

Last year, both Aldi and Lidl launched their campaigns on November 1st quickly followed by Asda and John Lewis.

Marc Bolland, the chief executive at Marks & Spencer’s, previously said retailers were merely following consumers' habits.

He pointed out that in the first week of September, the most searched term on its website was "Christmas".

Could Bounce the dog be the new star of the ad?

John Lewis appears to have already released a 10-second teaser trailer.

It was posted by a mysterious Twitter account (@bouncing2016) and bears the retail chain's familiar font (watch above).

The short video is of a dog watching a girl bounce around on a red space space hopper in their snow covered garden. Curious? Watch it here.

I can't recognise the tune in the teaser, do we know who will be singing this year?

These details are likely to remain a highly guarded secret until D-day.

Bookmakers have predicted that the song migh be a cover from British pop icon David Bowie or Prince

However, after looking at the teaser it appears John Lewis won't be going with a cover of a famous rock song, but 'One Day I'll Fly Away' by jazz singer Randy Crawford.

That's according to an Independent staff member, who identified the track purely from the intro piano chords, the 1980 song having been popularised in the 2001 Baz Luhrmann musical Moulin Rouge, in which it was sung by Nicole Kidman. Compare the two yourself here.

What can we expect from the ad?

Prepare your tissues.

Hate it or love it, since John Lewis has been collaborating with ad agency Adam&Eve/DBB the adverts have grown in terms of emotiveness, and it is unlikely to change this year.

Last year's Man in the Moon put the spotlight on the isolation felt by many elderly people in this country, as the retail teamed up with Age UK.

Marketing executive have hower promised that this year's advert will be more cheerful/

Rachel Swift, head of brand marketing at John Lewis, previously said: "We still had a great response for Man on the Moon, but there were a few murmurings about it being a bit sad and did it touch people in slightly the wrong way? So we’ve been really thinking about that."