The award for the Christmas advert most likely to make you feel emotional may have just gone to Tesco.
In the annual competition for the best festive offering from a brand, the supermarket has positioned itself as a front-runner due to the meaningful message.
The three-minute short film, soundtracked by Gorillaz’s On Melancholy Hill, opens with a young man called Gary finishing his day job as a construction worker and heading over to visit his Grandad for a cup of tea. After enjoying some laughs together, the atmosphere becomes more sombre when they both look at an old photo that features Gary’s grandmother.
As Gary leaves, his grandad hands him a bag of gingerbread men. The significance isn’t initially clear, but, it clearly means something, as soon everything in Gary’s world is made of gingerbread with the help of animation.
As the mini-movie draws to a close, Gary and his grandad both have the same idea to buy ingredients from Tesco to make their own gingerbread house. The photos on the fridge door reveal that this was a longstanding tradition between Gary and his beloved nan, who has recently died.
The slogan ‘Helping Feed Your Christmas Spirit’ is displayed after the emotional gut punch.
Tesco’s marketing campaign has got the approval of viewers, who praised thevideo for making them feel something.
‘First Christmas ad to make me feel christmasey whilst also having real emotions I love everything about this,’ account elrondriel wrote on YouTube.
Robthetrucker added: ‘Never thought I’d say this but wow! This pulled a few heart strings, talk about bringing back the spirit of Christmas for 2024. Well done Tesco!’
Riyahai273 remarked: ‘I don’t think we had a good Xmas advert like this for quite a while. Well done Tescos, really heartfelt and warm to your bones.’
‘Fair Play Tesco you actually have the best Christmas advert I’ve seen so far this year so a lovely story behind it,’ summarised SamsVlogstrainsmore.
‘Ahh, bit of a tear-jerker this one,’ summarised nishtahurry44.
Burge117 declared it the winner of the ad battle: ‘I hate most if not all Christmas adverts. But this, this is actually amazing. Not over the top with the Christmas stuff, heartwarming and honestly just very real.’
It may only be mid-November, but Tesco joins a long list of brands who’ve already released their 2024 advert into the world.
ASDA have featured the lovable Roald Dahl character BFG (Big Friendly Giant) putting together an enviable spread, while lingerie label Agent Provocateur have created a raunchy advert with the help of Peter Crouch and Abbey Clancy.
Waitrose has also got major UK stars involved, with a whodunnit-style mystery after a Red Velvet Bauble Dessert. Viewers have been left on a cliffhanger after part one with the culprit yet to be uncovered.
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John Lewis is yet to air their advert, but they have released teasers.