Everyone knows the season is upon us when Christmas carols, jingling bells and scenes of family holiday bliss decorate the commercial space on television. This year, 2020, things feel a little different. The usual pictures of families together, around a big Christmas dinner, are less frequent. Expectations for our usual Christmas are carefully guarded as no one knows what the next month will look like with the current state of the world. But, this year, I’m letting the Christmas cheer carry me away.
I’m letting the adverts of old, filled with people hugging people, airports acting as normal and shops spilling over with customers, remind me of all the Christmases we’ve had where we have taken every ounce of this for granted. I’d trade in every year of complaining about shopping in Oxford Street crowds, of huffing and puffing about how crowded Heathrow Airport is or getting annoyed at my family for whatever absolutely stupid reason there ever was to ever be annoyed. I’d give anything to accidentally be shoved in the street by a poor dad carrying way too many Christmas packages. I’d love to be on a flight home where I’m absolutely sure nothing could taint the end result of that flight… a hug from my mom. And, if I could, I’d squeeze my little brother so tight and say, “let’s put on Santa Clause the Movie right now and eat M&Ms until we’re sick to our stomachs.”
None of those activities are on the cards. They will be next year. I know that. But this year, I needed a reminder of everything good and wonderful about the holiday period. The best place to find that has always been the holiday advertisements. Always. So, I thought I’d share over 50 of them… that’s how many I found after two days of research, two days of crying so hard it looked like my eyeballs were bobbing in tiny ponds.
I will warn you, some of these are tough to watch. Almost all of them are about people coming home, people seeing their loved ones against all odds. This is the one circumstance it seems we didn’t think would ever come upon us. There is no ad here to make us feel better about not being able to see our families this holiday season. They are all just here to say…. when you can see them again, this is a reminder of just how good it will feel.
Some of these will make you cry, some will make you laugh, some will make you miss your mom, others will make you long for a Christmas pudding, but all will feel your heart with warmth…
PS. Give the ads a minute to load. There are a lot of them!
1. Apple iPhone 2013
2. Hallmark – Waiting for Christmas
3. Marks & Spencer 2016 – Mrs. Clause
4. John Lewis 2011- Amazing
5. McDonald’s 2019 – Reindeer Ready
6. 2015 Spanish Christmas Lottery
7. 1990s Hallmark Commercial
8. John Lewis 2014 – Monty The Penguin
9. Edeka 2020 – Lonely Father
10. Disney 2020
11. Argos 2020 – Magic
12. Amazon 2020 – The Show Must Go on
13. John Lewis 2015 – Man on the Moon
14. Heathrow Bears 2018
15. Asda 2019 – Extra Special
16. Apple 2019 The Surprise
17. Supervalu 2020
18. John Lewis 2016 – Trampoline
19. 1990s Folger’s Coffee
20. 2000s reboot of Folger’s Coffee
21. Sainsbury’s 2018 – The Big Night
22. Erste 2018: What would Christmas be without love?
23. John Lewis 2017 – Moz The Monster
24. Marks & Spencer 2019 – Sweaters
25. TK Maxx 2020- Lil Goat
26. Boots 2018 – Mum & Daughter
27. John Lewis 2018 – Elton John
28. Coca Cola Christmas 2020
29. Tesco 2020 – No Naughty List
30. John Lewis 2019- Edgar
31. Mcdonald’s 2020 – Inner Child
32. Very.co.uk Christmas 2019
33. Fortnum & Mason 2018
34. Gap UK 2017
35. Google Home 2018
36. Publix 2019
37. Bouygues Christmas
38. Macy’s 2020 – In Dad’s Shoes
39. Hallmark – Teacher’s Gift 80s
40. Publix – Holiday Surprise
41. Tommy Hilfiger – Feast
42. Hershey’s 1980s
43. Kmart Christmas balls (you gotta laugh)
44. Tiffany & Co Christmas
45. John Lewis 2020
46. Not on the High Street
47. Sainsburys Gravy Ad 2020
48. Hobby Lobby 2020
49. Morrison’s 2019
50. Debenhams’s 2017 Fairytale
51. Vodafone Ireland 2015
52. 02 The Magic of Christmas 2020
53. Mariah Carey Walker’s Christmas 2019
54. Apple’s Frankie’s Christmas 2016
55. Sainsbury’s 2015 Mog’s Christmas Calamity
56. H&M Come Together by Wes Anderson
57. Boots 2014 Special Because
58. Sainsbury’s 2014, 1914
59. Westjet Christmas Miracle