The holidays are supposed to be a time to gather and be merry. But this year’s Christmas ad from German supermarket chain Edeka has viewers in tears.
In the ad, which has over 11 million views on YouTube, a grandfather fakes his own death to bring his family together for the holidays after years of them cancelling on him.
AdWeek is calling the ad “controversial” and questions its appropriateness for what the company is selling.
Many are comparing Edeka’s commercial to British retailer John Lewis’ holiday ad for this year, “Man on the Moon” – which also features a lonely old man that tugs at your heartstrings.
“You’ve got two retailers here not doing stuff about the joys of buying,” said Schulich School of Business marketing professor Alan Middleton. “The contrast with a ‘go and spend a lot of money’ is certainly marked.”
Middleton pointed out that John Lewis ads have historically been more about emotions rather than consumerism. But this year’s turn to the morose from last year’s more uplifting ads is a sign of the times, Middleton said.
“Right now, the mood in Europe is not expansionary,” he said.
“I suspect given with what’s been going on in Europe with the economy and immigration, this notion of being with friends and family are more on people’s minds.”
Both ads are evocative and demand viewers to reconsider their priorities, which Middleton says is a European phenomenon. In general, Europe doesn’t commercialize the holidays as much as North America.
“The whole orientation to the overt commercialisation is not really there,” he said. “I doubt if we’ll see these styles of ads here but it’s certainly touching.”
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