World’s best ads ever #97: Edeka’s emotive ‘Heimkommen’ tweaks heartstrings everywhere
We asked our readers to vote for their favorite commercials of all time. Top creatives from the World Creative Rankings and The Drum’s Judges’ Club then ranked the ads. Now, we bring you the definitive 100 best TV and video ads of all time.
For its 2015 Christmas campaign, German supermarket Edeka tugged on the heartstrings of families across the globe with this emotional spot.
British actor Arthur Tulloch Nightingale takes the role of a lonely grandpa whose only festive wish is that his family is reunited with him around the dinner table. He goes to extreme measures to make this happen, by faking his own death.
Directed by Alex Feil, the short was filmed between Prague and Bangkok. Florian Lakenmacher of Supreme Music wrote the song titled Dad for the spot, which is sung by Neele Ternes and reached number 43 on the German music charts.
Reception to the ad, by agency Jung von Matt, was overwhelmingly positive – to date the video posted on YouTube has had more than 68m views. Viewers have compared the style of advertising to that of British retail chain John Lewis, which is known for its emotive festive spots.
Over the years different parodies have appeared online, a testament to how far-reaching this commercial was. In one spoof spot viewers see a Deutsche Bahn image showing Nightingdale in a train dining car and the caption: Lieber Opa, warte nicht bis sie zu Dir kommen (Dear Grandpa, don't wait till they come to you). In another, an Italian PR agency reworked the ad to show a nonno expressing fears about his stock of Parmesan cheese deteriorating.