It’s been such a relief having this blog back from the near-dead. And what, in particular, diid I miss (and I know y’all missed)? The annual Weepy Awards. Just because technical issues (eyelid twitches, forehead vein throbs) had my blog out of commission last holiday season, that doesn’t mean I wasn’t noticing all the weepy ads, and I wasn’t going to miss out on my traditional celebration of the Weepiest ones, even if it was going to ultimately be June before it could happen.
Anyway.
Anyway, first of all, we have to celebrate the return of Aldi’s Kevin the Carrot. While 2023’s Willy Wonka-themed ad doesn’t really bring the Weepiness of years past — nothing’s going to top “It’s not Christmas ’til my Daddy gets home” — it’s still good to see Kevin on our holiday screens. We also have to acknowledge Chevrolet’s holiday ad. Chevy’s ads have been barred from Weepy contention under the Slam Dunk Rule, but this most recent offering features a woman helping spark happy memories for her grandmother who has Alzheimer’s, which kind of goes beyond Weepy for me because of personal experiences, but I can recognize that objectively, this is a beautifully crafted and heart-touching ad, so well done, Chevy and Commonwealth/McCann.
Anyway.
Anyway, 2023’s holiday ad season was replete with sweet, sincere ads that took a number of different strategies in their mission to jerk tears. So I’ve tried to identify the very Weepiest while still recognizing all worthy Weepy contenders, and if you disagree with any of my choices… it’s kind of weird that you’re still having strong feelings about last year’s ads six months later, but then, I’m just posting this post about them six months later, so I guess there we are.
And here we go.
Honorable Mentions
These ads are relegated to Honorable Mentions only because they really were worthy of honorable mention, and we simply don’t have enough trophies to honor all the great ads we had in 2023.
Air Canada, “Once Upon a Tree” (FCB)
You know I’m a sucker for anthropomorphization at the holidays, and being lost, and quests to reunite, and sweet, piano-driven covers of popular songs of yore, and Air Canada gives us all four of those things in 2023’s holiday offering. Those two sweet soldier-nutcracker-bear ornaments clearly care about each other, and to separate them so cruelly, and then stand between them in their every effort to reunite? Sniff.
Apple, “Fuzzy Feelings” (TBWA\Media Arts Lab)
I don’t know that this ad makes it all the way to tearjerker, but it’s heartwarming and clever. I love the combination of the irascible boss who, it turns out, is really just lonely, and the woman who realizes that and reaches out and makes his life brighter, and the viciousness and ingenuity with which she tortures his stop-motion analogue, and the adorableness of the felted puppy waiting under his tree to brighten his life.
Kroger, “Magic happens when we bring new traditions to the table“ (adam&eveDDB)
Loneliness is hard any time of year, but the holidays can be especially rough. Kroger gives us the story of a childless couple who welcome a series of exchange students, bonding with them and then always having to part ways at the end. And then they’re old, and they’re melancholy, and then all their past students show up together for holiday dinner… Excellent execution of “Lonely old people not being lonely anymore.”
I’ve said that sad old people are guaranteed to provide the level of weepiness necessary for Weepy contention, but what I love about this ad is the sheer, unbridled joy. It’s not just comfort or love or sentimentality — not that those aren’t important, in Weepy ads and in life — it’s unabashed, childlike glee. (And a beautiful instrumental cover of the Beatles’ “In My Life.”) Nanas deserve glee. Nanas. Deserve. Glee.
Posten, “The True Spirit of Christmas” (Pol)
The Norwegian Postal Service’s holiday ad starts out heartfelt but, I’m going to be honest here, not really standout. It was the sweet story of a young girl with a rough home life taking an accidental adventure to the North Pole, where everything is magical and she drinks cocoa while watching Santa open letters. And then he opens her letter, and she’s written, “I just want Mom and Dad to be happy,” and dammit, Pol.
Your 2023 Weepies (in 2024)
And the winners are (were?)…
Bronze: Telstra, “Hello Christmas” (The Monkeys)
This might seem like a strange choice moving into the medals, but again, anthropormorphization and loneliness and sorry-not-sorry, Telstra’s wayward reindeer, lost and alone in Australia, was a legitimate tearjerker for me. When it found “Santa,” only to discover that it’s a light-up plastic Santa lawn ornament, and it nudged the Santa with its nose and looked devastated as only a CGI reindeer can? When it… made reindeer noises (what are reindeer noises called?) plaintively into the night sky? When it lay down, dejected, devastated, right there in the yard where the little girl found it? Tear out my heart, The Monkeys.
Silver: Montefiore Einstein, “There’s Magic in All of Us” (Alto)
With apologies, I’m going to start a little Preachy before I get Weepy: Ads centered around disability are a craps shoot. So frequently, they end up in places of stunt casting, Inspiration Porn, and (pertinently here) focusing on dreams of the disability disappearing, as if the only way they can have quality of life is to change them and make them “better.” This ad, directed by perennial Weepy-winner Tom Hooper on behalf of Montefiore Einstein, brings us the story of Solo, a little boy with cerebral palsy who uses eye-tracking technology to draw a dog that later takes him on a magical dream adventure through New York. Solo gets the joy and imagination he deserves, just as he is, and this ad lets us all share in his joy, and it’s lovely.
(The campaign also includes a website where you can learn more about assistive technology and do coloring sheets using eye-tracking, and it’s pretty awesome.)
Gold: Suchard, “La Vida Es” (Ogilvy)
This ad starts with a pair of kind of lonely looking grandparents looking wistfully at a photo, and then moves backward through time, touching on the not-so-good times (COVID separation, the tragic passing of beloved pug Zippi) and the much better ones (new babies, the adoption of adorable puppy Zippi). And it’s the juxtaposition of those times that really touches the heart, because that’s what life is like. That’s what our lives are like. At the beginning of the ad, Grandpa asks, “Do you think we did well?” and then, at the end, as the family gathers around them and creates new memories, Grandma confirms, “Yes, we did well.” You absolutely did, and so did Suchard and Ogilvy.
To me, you’re all winners.
If I had room to feature all the holiday ads I loved in 2023, I absolutely would. (I’m looking at you, KFC.) But let me assure you that this past holiday season was full of ads to love, Weepy and otherwise. To the brands and agencies and creatives behind these great ads, I offer my (sadly belated) congratulations. And just think: Now, we don’t have to wait as long to celebrate the Weepiest holiday ads of 2024! There’s something to be said for delayed gratification, but there’s also something to be said for needing a little Christmas, even if it’s only June. (Now, where to find an Advent calendar with 180 li’l boxes…)