Is this the best Christmas commercial ever made?
What's Christmas without tearjerker ads that make you want to reconcile with your judgmental parents?
TV Features christmas
Let’s face it: it’s Christmas and you want a good cry. Not the, “holy hell, it’s the seventh sign of the apocalypse” sob-fest; more like the cathartic tears that come from watching a military reunion video, or a kid asking his weepy stepdad to adopt him. You know, a commercial that will restore your faith in humanity, as singularly effective commercials do.
What makes an absolute banger of a Christmas commercial? Cloying emotions or a winking sense of humor? A Christmas saved from utter ruin or one that telegraphs peak holiday vibes, down to the powdery snowfall and homemade hot cocoa? Does it have to make you want to buy the product it’s pitching–or make you forget altogether that it’s pitching one?
We’ve watched them all: from the WASP-y classic “Peter Comes Home!” (Folger’s 1985), to “Melting Snowman” (Campbell’s Soup, 1993), starring a kinda-sorta creepy animatronic snowman who drips his way to boyhood while slurping down a hot bowl of chicken noodle, to find the ultimate in two minutes-or-less holiday cheer. The winner is the absolute apotheosis of a winning Christmas ad: sentimental without being maudlin; amusing without resorting to slapstick; wistful without feeling ridiculous. And spoiler alert: it never aired in America.
Dubbed “Unforgettable Christmas,” the 2018 commercial from French mobile phone company Bouyges Telecom is the ultimate holiday chestnut, even five years later. Nothing comes close. It checks all the boxes: nostalgia, family, holiday cheer, and its secret ingredient: a whiff of reconciliation, of a fractured relationship healed.
The Bouyges commercial is the perfect antidote to what’s become a mainstay of holiday TV programming: dysfunctional family gatherings. For every Hallmark movie spinning romance under the mistletoe, there’s a “Fishes,” The Bear’s Season 2 mindfuck intent on reminding you that your family isn’t nearly as damaged as you think they are. (Did your mom drive her car through the living room? No? Then sit down.) And just to make sure you show up for Christmas dinner with a bonafide smile on your face, the Bouyges advert sets out to recast your dad as the misunderstood, tragic figure he is. So what if you hate his jokes, his politics, or the dreams he himself wanted but projected on you, here comes a $13 billion telecom to remind you that, through it all, he loved you more than he could ever put to words.
So he let Redbone do it. Every time he hears the familiar bass of their ’70s hit “Come and Get Your Love,” there he is with his awkward overbite and oafish two-step, the Elaine Bennis of Montmartre. There’s something indescribably moving about seeing our parents, the ones who drive us batshit crazy for most of the year with their embarrassing antics and loutish impositions, reframed as well-meaning and deeply, deeply loving. Nothing corrects a lifetime of therapy quite like a good Christmas commercial.
Sadly, this quirky, ultra-specific genre is fast becoming an anachronism as more viewers opt for ad-free viewing. For the rest of the year, I don’t miss commercials a lick, not even for a second. Not even on Super Bowl Sunday. But give me an oversized bow on a gleaming Chevy Blazer and a snowy gathering of old friends over Doritos and Mountain Dew, and a rakish Santa using his Capital One card to spread some sparkle on a town full of grinches, and I am yours forever.
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My current favorite is the “Dementia Grandma” Chevy is presently running. Having lost my mother to this horrible disease, years before she actually passed, I would have given almost anything for just one more “good day” at Christmas.Cried like a baby when I first saw it . . .
Anyway…
That’s nice.
Happy Holidays, mate.
Cheery, amiga! Happy belated Gravy Day to you!
Hey! Thanks for the introduction. The circumstances are sad but the song is joyful. And hopeful. Would this be considered country music or sort of countryish-rock? I started Googling and will be looking forward to the movie.Someone told me that everyone should visit Australia at least once. I don’t know if that will happen but my dad met some Aussies in the army. They were his favorite people and I always got the impression that Yanks and Aussies had the most in common of all the colonies. I hope you all eventually get legalized weed (I’m only a very light edible-user myself), although you guys seem pretty chill without it.
Paul Kelly needs a statue to him somewhere, arguably Australia’s best living songwriter, up there with the guy who designed bits of this thing:Paul Kelly’s run the gamut from folk to bluegrass to country to pub rock, hard to pin down. Does whatever he feels is best for the song. Probably his best work is in the balladic tales from those on the edges, something he was familiar with, the blue-collar poetry that defined Australian music for so long. “To Her Door” is probably his most well-know song, and one of his sweetest, a working-class song of bittersweet love. Someone told me that everyone should visit Australia at least once. I don’t know if that will happen but my dad met some Aussies in the army.Did he get his gear back?If you do come, don’t get stuck in Sydney or Melbourne. There’s nothing but Nazis and wankers.There’s two, and only two, things worth seeing in Sydney, and that’s the Bridge and the Opera House, and most of those can be had on post cards. Other than that, it’s just happy-clappers – that place is deeply fucken conservative and deeply fucken Evangelical.No. Go inland. If by some misfortune, run the highway up through the Hunter, count the vineyards, taste the wine. Crest the Divide, stop at the top, see the country stretch before you, smell the eucalypt and cypress. Go to Kaputar and see the pink slugs, sit on the banks of the Gwydir.Head north up the New England Highway. Drink a dark beer by the fire at Glencoe or the Commercial Hotel in Tenterfield. Walk Cunningham’s gap. Take some salt. Head to Brisbane, a far more interesting town than Sydney or Melbourne. Go on north, see the Reef before it dies. If you’ve really got the balls, there’s Darwin, the closest thing we have to a foreign country in this country. If you make it to New England, I’ll buy you a schooner of Old if it’s winter, New if it’s summer.
This is all good, thanks.
If I ever get I’ll bring all of my best hats.
About the gear. I’d ask the Aussie that, lol.
No, the answer is and always will be this Fruity Pebbles spot
Fact: The best Christmas commercial is the one with the Hershey kisses as bell-ringers performing “We Wish You a Merry Christmas.” Fact!
That one was my favorite until I saw this:
My first time seeing this ad, and I’m 1000% in agreement with you.
This is brill. I didn’t know I could laugh and cry at the same time.Happy Holidays.
I just hope people don’t use this ad for inspiration instead.
Hot take: Oreos are just smaller, grainier Arnott’s Delta Creams, and Americans should stick to making cookies. Leave the biscuit making to the rest of us.
Or, and hear me out on this one, don’t be an elitists twat, and stop sniffing your own farts, teabag.
Oooh, American are we? Can’t even concede there’s one thing in the world others are better at? Elitist twat, indeed.
I could absolutely concede that point. There are a great many things in the world that “others are better at”. Imperialism, for example. You’re the one who made it a contest, not me, fart sniffer. And there are other “Americas” apart from the one of the “United States of” variety. Were you aware of those? You do have books where you live, don’t you?
Aww, don’t sell yourself short. America’s imperialist tactics are quite well known and have left their mark to this day. And we all know which American country I’m talking about, not just from context, but because of all the countries in the Americas only one has the arrogance to name its population after both continents.Don’t bother to reply again. You’re not very good at this.
The greatest Christmas commercial of all time is the one where Santa persuades Fred Flintstone into sharing his Fruity Pebbles with Barney:
I’m seeing the meme about “What are these prehistoric people celebrating” a lot this year. Yet no one seems bothered that they co-exist with dinosaurs.
Easily reconcilable:
Anti-dino-ites. What the hell is their problem?
It’s crazy how long that one and the Honey Nut Cheerios A Christmas Carol ad ran. They premiered when I was a child and I swear they were still running 30 years later. I assume I’d still see them if I watched children’s TV.Edit: The video says it’s from 1995, but it’s definitely not. Another video I found says 1987 and that sounds more right.
Interestingly, I’ve seen both the Hershey’s Kisses bell commercial and the M&Ms “He does exist!” commercial as upscaled YouTube ads this year, both of which were playing ad nauseam when I was a kid in the mid 90s.
They’re still playing on TV, too. (I’m old school, I still watch cable and broadcast tv.)
Saw those ads on TV this year. Think the M&Ms ad in particular airs on TV every year.
They still play both regularly till this day. I just saw the m&m ad (from 1996) like a minute ago.
Yep that’s definitely been around since the ‘80s.
Upon further research, they updated the commercial slightly in 1995. So technically the video title is correct.
Behold the power of television: I don’t celebrate Christmas nor eat Fruity Pebbles, but I was able to sing along with this commercial.
It’s my favorite Christmas song
I think a strong contender in this genre is the weight-lifting grandpa ad.
Dammit, who’s chopping onions?
Oh, I like this one very much.
That’s good stuff right there.
I’m a broken human being who hates everything, but this got to me a little.
I thought we all agreed that the best Christmas commercial was the incest coffee ad.
Particularly good is when the sister points at her self and yells, “Sister!” That’s good incest writing.
You know… Like you do.
I curious now, yet not brave enough to google it.
https://www.gq.com/story/folgers-incest-ad-oral-history
Thanks, I can’t believe I never heard of this!
I think my favorite part of that was learning that Jonah from Veep was the cameraman during auditions.
1st: eww.
2nd: yeah, people minds are in the gutter. She’s clearly just being a younger sister doing younger sister stuff and he thinks it’s sweet. That’s all. Anything else is fanfic, and not even fanfic with much effort put in.
It’s the part where they look at each other towards the end that makes it weird. He looks down in a bashful way that makes it seem romantic.
If a close relative I hadn’t seen in a while stuck a ribbon on me and said “you’re my present this year” in an earnest way, I’d be pretty bashful too. The only crime this commits is it’s corny, and it’s corny waaaaay before it hints at anything else.
This seems another case of the internet making up something that’s not there because it’s more fun. And hey, don’t let me yuck your yum… If your yum is.. incest.
Nah… It’s not an internet creation. Lots of people had the thought independently.
Which they communicated together on the internet. Even the article you link to says so:
“The reaction to the ad was an example of the internet at its most
fun—the phenomenon of collectively realizing that the specific thing
that you believed you’ve singularly noticed is actually a widely-held
opinion. Memes, articles, and parody videos abounded. It even inspired a
genre of vividly-rendered fan fiction known as “Folgerscest.””Things go viral on the internet because people become aware of something they like and share it. They don’t have to have the original thought independently.
Sure. But the article also mentions that many people did have the thought independently before finding others who had the same thought on the internet. I don’t see why you find that so hard to believe.
I didn’t say that was hard to believe.
It’s self evident that a few people can have the same thought independently, and by sharing that then have many more people with the same thought. I don’t even have to argue that, it’s just a natural sequence of events.
The propagation of this joke is because of the internet. And the origin of it is a few people with dirty minds. I’m not saying anything unreasonable here.
But what I’m saying it that it wasn’t a few people. It was a lot of people. And not because they have “dirty minds.” There are unintentional romantic vibes to the commercial that lots of people picked up. As we’ve only known the characters as brother and sister for maybe ten seconds before those romantic vibes appear and they’re clearly not real siblings, there’s nothing dirty about noticing those vibes and thinking that the commercial is weird or funny as a result. If you’re not on that wavelength and don’t sense the romantic/sexual tension in the way that commercial is scripted, shot, and edited, that’s fine. “Art” is subjective. But it’s silly to act like it’s just a few random perverts who noticed it.
Huh? There’s nothing more to say here mate, but ok then..
Can we agree that no matter how many people noticed this separately, that as soon as they went on the internet and shared it that many more people would see what they’re seeing. That’s just a normal sequence of events. It’s how things go viral. And like I said elsewhere, seems nothing unites people more than trying to figure out (or make up) who’s shagging who. It’s an international pastime and an easy laugh. You’ve gone from calling it incest to romantic (unintentional or otherwise). And now you’re saying “they’re clearly not real siblings”, when no.. that’s not clear at all. It also doesn’t really matter. Wait, you mean the actors aren’t related? Yeah, probably. But that’s not the context of the commercial, so again, doesn’t really matter.
If people see this ad and the first thought in their minds is “brother and sister are fucking” (step siblings or otherwise) then, yeah, it’s reasonable to say those people have dirty minds. Youtube videos and your OP call it incest for a reason.
Yes. They are actors playing roles. They are not actually related. That was my point. You can think “those actors have chemistry” or “wait…aren’t they supposed to be brother and sister?” rather than thinking, “That brother and sister are fucking. That’s hot.” Or you could only be half paying attention to the ad, because it’s an ad after all, and not realize that they’re even supposed to be brother and sister during the part that makes it seem like they’re into each other.Of course actual incest isn’t romantic. I used the word “romantic” because they’re not actually having sex on screen. It just appears that they are vibing on each other.Of course more people became aware of the ad itself and the unintended interpretation of it through the internet, but if there wasn’t a large contingent of people who had that interpretation to begin with and there wasn’t something about the ad that makes that interpretation resonate with new people who encounter it, then it wouldn’t have gone viral. I could shout out into the void that any random ad featured incest and no one would care unless the ad actually had that subtext.
But people did call it the “Folgers coffee incest ad” because they did want to make the joke that the brother and sister were fucking and it did go viral because it’s a cheap laugh.
Really doesn’t have to be anymore complicated than that.
The incest really distracts from the “finally, real coffee!” said by a guy who just returned from West Africa. One of the best coffee-producing regions in the world.
To be fair, incest on TV would tend to distract from pretty much anything else though.
That’s the real kicker for me. Like, Ethiopia is the literal birthplace of coffee. And in West Africa, the espresso made from beans grown on the Ivory Coast is insane.
“He’s fucking his sister!”“Hey, emotions are complicated. Who are we to judge these things?”“And he thinks Folgers is better than coffee grown in Africa!”“That monster!”
Really! It was as if nobody working on the production had ever been to Africa, or knew the first thing about coffee.
Feeling a bit sadistic today :p
You know there’s an extended cut, right?
Oof. I barely watch tv and tune out when any ad comes on but I remember that one. Creepy af, sure, but I remember thinking “He’s just come from Africa, why isn’t he making the coffee?” And there’s Artisian African coffee in his gift then how would Folger’s feel about that?
How are you all missing the gold standard?
I got a Boygenius notification for this??
I’ve got six words for you. “Did you say honey and nuts?”
One of the last times Arnold Stang got to voice the bee (later named Buzz), if not the very last, as he died the year after that commercial first aired.
The ad’s fine. I think you’re reading too much into it to discern a fractured father-son relationship. Not much evidence there. The adult son is slightly embarrassed his dad is dancing in a coffee shop. That’s it. A good ad—not too maudlin, and the dancing is dorky cute—but not the best Christmas commercial.
Yeah, it’s…fine. There’s a British department store which does a yearly commercial that usually leaves me a whimpering mess; this was just nice and cute. And I can tell you, as someone whose parents have achieved worse lows than being publicly embarrassing, this doesn’t make me go “I should call them.”
Apparantly there was a very confused US politician called John Lewis who was wondering why the hell he was constantly getting tweets about ‘his’ Christmas adverts.
The best part of the ad is how easy it’d be to re-edit to any song you wanted.“Come To Daddy” by Aphex Twin. That’s what it should be.
I mean all adverts would be improved by Aphex Twin.
Sadly, this quirky, ultra-specific genre is fast becoming an anachronism as more viewers opt for ad-free viewing.1) that’s not sad.
2) streaming services are adding tiers with commercials.
This ad had me…until I head that ridiculous French accent!
Off-topic, but is the Giz family forbidden to talk about the Biden marijuana pardon?
Forbidden? No. Just which website would such news best fit?
My favorite from this year is the Amazon commercial with the old ladies sledding.
Thailand doesn’t do Christmas commercials. But when it comes to shamelessly manipulative yet deeply effective tear-jerker ads, nobody does it like the Thais.
Those Thai insurance commercials…!
nope… the best Christmas ad ever would be this one…
No, the best one is the Hershey Kisses playing “We Wish You a Merry Christmas.”
I’m sorry but nothing tops a stop-motion Santa riding a Norelco razor.But if the ringing Hershey Kisses are your cup of tea that’s fine too.
I’m sorry, if it doesn’t have at least a whiff of coffee and incest, I’m just not interested.
no
This isn’t an ad. It’s a three and a half minute piece of cinema.
Any time Christmas ads come up I think of this old video when Cracked.com didn’t suck
When the guy said 50k for a Lexus I thought, “Not any more, lol.”
But they seem to still be selling for 48k to 68k.Meanwhile, some dealers are demanding nearly 50k for a new Rav4.
Car prices these days are insane. Lexus are just overpriced Toyotas.
ANY commercial just makes me super restless and uncomfortable, diving for the mute button. I never understood “best commercials” and never laughed at “funny commercials.” Despite this, I am just fine at parties and don’t feel like I’ve been missing much not enjoying commercials.
Oh that’s right. It’s because I spent years making them. I’m so sorry, America.
Would be way better if it wasn’t French. Zut alors!
Without any thought I Immediately to this one (which you will need to see on YouTube proper) but it is WORTH it. “Niagara Falls, Frankie.”
NIAGARA FALLS! Slowly I turned, and step by step, inch by inch, I walked up to him, I smashed him, I hit him, I bonked him, I bopped him, I socked him and I mashed his face and I knocked him down……I’m, I’m sorry, I don’t know what came over me.
“Peter Comes Home” had some interesting vibes…..
Pfft. It’s the PA Lottery commercial. So good that after 20 years they made a shot-for-shot remake and have been airing THAT for over a decade.
Still not as good as the classic Hershey’s Kisses ad.
Honestly, when I first saw it, I never even considered “incest” for the Folgers ad. I saw it for what it was intended to be, a sister happy to see her brother home and that was her present – him coming home.The fact so many went right to “incest” kind of tells me how fucked up people have become.
I think it’s just that the brother-sister dynamic comes across as so unrealistic. I never got the sense that these two grew up annoying the shit out of each other the way siblings inevitably do.
That and the way it’s cut. The insert shots of them looking bashfully at each other were a bad choice. Or a great one, depending your perspective.
Agreed. Though it’s evident that the internet can amplify the opinion of a few.
And seems nothing unites people more than trying to figure out (or make up) who’s shagging who. It’s an international pastime.
It’s very, very good, but to my mind, this is the best:
Again, not American. I can’t watch this without it bringing a tear to my eye. As a sometimes overworked father, this always hits me in the feels. So trigger warning for all those busy parents with demanding jobs whose children sometimes feel like they come in second place.
I’m just gonna star every post I see because it’s the holidays, I’m grateful to be here and everyone should be seen, imo. Please don’t be nasty, though.
I dunno. GM’s dementia grandma going for a ride is pretty tough to beat.
No.
Now AV Club’s job is just to trick me into watching ads? How far this site has fallen.
Why is it that the best Christmas ads come from outside the US? Perhaps it’s because they don’t have to force things into a one-minute time slot.https://pureblather.com/2022/12/07/more-holiday-messages-from-our-sponsors/This (American) one from 1981 deserves more respect for its pure simplicity: