By Mark Spencer
An East Anglian village idiot is the star of John Lewis’ 2017 Christmas television advert, it has emerged.
The moving film features a desperately lonely Suffolk idiot, who is sad because no one bothers to talk to him.
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He is ridiculed by the people of Alderton because he keeps falling backwards off garden walls, where he likes to sit all day trying to engage them in conversation.
But then the advert shows one little girl who feels sorry for the village idiot, and desperately wants to do something to help him.
Finally, in a tear-jerking end to the sequence, she manages to buy him a camping chair from John Lewis in time for Christmas so he can sit safely by the side of the road without falling off walls.
John Lewis bosses, who have celebrated years of success with their Christmas adverts, including the Man on The Moon and last year’s Boxer dog bouncing on a trampoline, are sure they were on to another seasonal hit.
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A John Lewis source said: “Suffolk is famous for its village idiots and we thought a story about one of them being helped by a little girl would be heart-warming.
“Our focus groups loved the advert, and we expect it to be far more popular than anything put out by Marks and Spencer or Tesco.”
However, some people in Suffolk have been offended by the ad, saying it does not portray the county in a good light.
“There are hardly any village idiots left these days,” one resident Tweeted furiously. “Now everyone will think we are a sandwich short of a picnic.”
The Suffolk Gazette tried to get a comment from a village idiot in Freston, but he ran away.