This viral Christmas ad is hands down the sweetest yet

A tear-jerking late comer is arguably the best festive commercial of 2020, writes Amanda Cassidy

The Christmas arrivals-into-the airport footage is usually what starts me off. All those teary hugs as those separated are reunited under the Dublin airport mistletoe, holding on as if they never let go.

But this year we will have to get our festive sentimentality from other sources.

There is a lot of talk about which quivering lip marketing campaign ‘gets’ us in the heart and in fairness, this year there were some pretty strong contenders for Most Emotional Christmas Ad.

We had the hankies out for the SuperValu tear-jerker when a little boy called Conor awaits a mystery Christmas visitor. The toll of the pandemic has left us extra vulnerable when it came to the twist. Let’s just say that that running hug made us suddenly have a lot in our eyes.

Community kindness was also the theme of 2020 with the Woodies DIY ad titled We Are All Homemakers. The one-minute clip follows Mrs. Higgins in the run-up to Christmas showing the power of neighourly service. Her community turns out to mend her broken gate and hang lights over her door showing that sometimes the most simple things are the most powerful.

Enter the surprise addition to the line-up – a tw0-minute sequence on a weight-lifting grandpa from a Dutch pharma company called DocMorris.

It has so far clocked up more than 6 million views leaving some viewers describing themselves as “emotionally slaughtered.”

It follows the story of an older man on a mission, setting his alarm clock early every morning to drag a huge kettlebell into his workshop as he works on his fitness throughout the seasons. He sets up a picture frame nearby- this is clearly some kind of inspiration.

Bond

Neighbours look on in surprise as he dons his tracksuit and slowly lifts the weight up to his chest and outwards – struggling massively at first but eventually building strength. Through Autumn and into the snowy weather, we are shown his routine in the run-up to Christmas.

The ad called Take Care of Yourself then shows the older gentleman, spiffy in his Christmas best, turning up on the doorstep of his grown-up daughter’s house with a beautifully wrapped gift.

He is welcomed lovingly and spots his granddaughter on the stairs, she runs to him and opens the gift in excitement revealing a stunning gold star for the top of the Christmas tree.

You know where this is going, right? But let’s go together…

The sweet grandpa, aware that he is being watched by all the extended family, proudly lifts his little grandaughter up towards his chest and outwards towards the top of the Christmas tree. No easy feat.

She places it importantly at the top, crowning the twinkling tree and piercing our hearts with the adorability of it all. The video pans out and we see her little face smiling back in the picture frame that inspired him.

Hankies at the ready. This is one you can watch over and over again.