Sean Ono Lennon defends John Lennon's appearance in Citroen car advert

John Lennon's son Sean has said his mother Yoko Ono allowed video footage of the former Beatle to be used in a car advert to keep him "in the public consciousness".

Footage of Lennon, filmed in his Beatles days, appears in the advert for the Citroen DS3, which you can watch below.

Responding to criticism about the advert on his Twitter page, Sean Ono Lennon denied that his mother allowed Lennon to appear in the campaign for money reasons, instead stating that it was an attempt to keep him in the public eye.

"She did not do it for money. Has to do w hoping to keep dad in public consciousness. No new LPs, so TV ad is exposure to young," Ono Lennon said, adding: "Look, TV ad was not for money. It's just hard to find new ways to keep dad in the new world. Not many things as effective as TV."

A third tweet from Ono Lennon again denied that the advert was for financial gain, though admitted that he had only just seen the advert himself.

"Having just seen ad I realize why people are mad," he wrote. "But intention was not financial, was simply wanting to keep him out there in the world."

Watch the Citroen DS3 advert featuring John Lennon below: