{"id":2396,"date":"2024-06-20T13:40:51","date_gmt":"2024-06-20T18:40:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/capertongillett.com\/blog\/?p=2396"},"modified":"2024-11-20T09:29:24","modified_gmt":"2024-11-20T15:29:24","slug":"christmas-in-june-the-2023-weepies-in-2024","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/capertongillett.com\/blog\/christmas-in-june-the-2023-weepies-in-2024\/","title":{"rendered":"Christmas in June: The 2023 Weepies (in 2024)"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Not gonna lie, when Alabama summer is cresting 90 with twelve billion percent humidity, a snowy hill sounds pretty damn nice.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

It\u2019s been such<\/em> a relief having this blog back from the near-dead. And what, in particular, diid I miss (and I know<\/em> y\u2019all 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\u2019t mean I wasn\u2019t noticing all the weepy ads, and I wasn\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anyway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anyway, first of all, we have to celebrate the return of Aldi\u2019s Kevin the Carrot<\/a>. While 2023\u2019s Willy Wonka-themed ad doesn\u2019t really bring the Weepiness of years past \u2014 nothing\u2019s going to top \u201cIt\u2019s not Christmas \u2019til my Daddy gets home\u201d \u2014 it\u2019s still good to see Kevin on our holiday screens. We also have to acknowledge Chevrolet\u2019s holiday ad<\/a>. Chevy\u2019s ads have been barred from Weepy contention under the Slam<\/a> Dunk<\/a> Rule, but this most recent offering features a woman helping spark happy memories for her grandmother who has Alzheimer\u2019s, 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anyway.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anyway,<\/em> 2023\u2019s holiday ad season was replete with sweet, sincere ads that took a number of different strategies in their mission to jerk tears. So I\u2019ve tried to identify the very Weepiest while still recognizing all worthy Weepy contenders, and if you disagree with any of my choices\u2026 it\u2019s kind of weird that you\u2019re still having strong feelings about last year\u2019s ads six months later, but then, I\u2019m just posting this post about them six months later, so I guess there we are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And here we go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Honorable Mentions<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

These ads are relegated to Honorable Mentions only because they really were worthy of honorable mention, and we simply don\u2019t have enough trophies to honor all the great ads we had in 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Air Canada, \u201cOnce Upon a Tree\u201d (FCB)<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

You know I\u2019m 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\u2019s 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.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Apple, \u201cFuzzy Feelings\u201d (TBWA\\Media Arts Lab)<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I don\u2019t know that this ad makes it all the way to tearjerker, but it\u2019s 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<\/em> life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kroger, \u201cMagic happens when we bring new traditions to the table\u201c (adam&eveDDB)<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u2019re old, and they\u2019re melancholy, and then all their past students show up together for holiday dinner\u2026 Excellent execution of \u201cLonely old people not being lonely anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amazon, \u201cJoy Ride\u201d <\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve 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\u2019s not just comfort or love or sentimentality \u2014 not that those aren\u2019t important, in Weepy ads and in life \u2014 it\u2019s unabashed, childlike glee. (And a beautiful instrumental cover of the Beatles\u2019 \u201cIn My Life.\u201d) Nanas deserve glee. Nanas. Deserve. Glee.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Posten, \u201cThe True Spirit of Christmas\u201d (Pol)<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Norwegian Postal Service\u2019s holiday ad starts out heartfelt but, I\u2019m 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\u2019s written, \u201cI just want Mom and Dad to be happy,\u201d and dammit<\/em>, Pol.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Your 2023 Weepies (in 2024)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

And the winners are (were?)\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bronze: <\/strong>Telstra, \u201cHello Christmas\u201d (The Monkeys)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

This might seem like a strange choice moving into the medals, but again, anthropormorphization and loneliness and sorry-not-sorry, Telstra\u2019s wayward reindeer, lost and alone in Australia, was a legitimate tearjerker for me. When it found \u201cSanta,\u201d only to discover that it\u2019s 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\u2026 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.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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