The Most Memorable Ad You'll Watch This Christmas Stars a Man in His Shed

In just over two minutes, the story of a man puttering around in his tool shed will reduce many of us to a sobbing mess. So, here's your warning in advance: have that box of tissues at the ready!

RedState is no stranger to the magic of emotional Christmas season commercials. Readers might still remember the one my colleague Joe Cunningham shared in 2022 from Chevy.

See also:

Chevrolet's Newest Holiday Ad, 'Mrs. Hayes,' Will Absolutely Tug at Your Heartstrings

And Chevy followed it up in 2023 with this one, via Nick Arama. It tells the story of a family dealing with the scourge of Alzheimer's, and how a daughter lovingly makes sure that her mother and father have a wonderful Christmas together.

But it was RedState's Susie Moore who kicked off the 2023 Christmas season with this tear-jerker of an Amazon ad, about some longtime friends who relive childhood joy together, out in the snow.

Now, we come to this commercial. And while it turns out that it is a couple of years old, the ad has been making the rounds this year on social media. This message sharing it on X a few days ago got three million views. The heartwarming ad is brought to us by DocMorris, a company that calls itself the largest online pharmacy in Germany and like some of the best European ads, does not need much talking in it to get the message across.

The ad opens with an old man waking up in bed, then glancing over a wall of family photos from across the years. Suddenly, he sees the activity of people making preparations for Christmas outside the window. The next-door neighbors are bringing home a tree. We can see from his change in expression that this gives him an idea.

That's when his tool shed/garage enters the story. From the looks of things, it's dusty and mostly in disuse--except as a haphazard place to store furniture and other items. With obvious effort, the man starts moving things out of the way, in his search for something hidden under the piles of stuff.

He hauls out a Ketel bell. Since his attempt to lift the heavy exercise weight is for naught, the man is forced to drag it outside instead. But then he notices his activity is under the watchful eye of a neighbor woman--who appears to make an expression of disgust at his behavior. As quickly as he can, the man drags the weight back inside the shed. And once he's there, he makes another attempt at a lift; he manages, with great effort, to bring it up to chest level one time.

Next, we see his alarm clock go off in the morning. He's now moved one of the family photos out to the shed, and he goes to pull up the Ketel bell again. But this time, he fails and drops it in a wail of frustration and pain. It's so loud, this time several neighbors, including a young couple on a walk with a baby stroller, give a start of alarm. Again, a woman shakes her head in distaste at what he's up to. That night before bed, he takes a long look at himself in the mirror, pondering his efforts.

The next morning, he dresses up in snazzy workout clothes and begins his exercise with the weight again, this time in the outdoors. Now, he's able to do several lifts in a row. It's at this point that the woman neighbor jumps on her cellphone. It appears she called the man's daughter, because a woman shows up and says, "Papa?" with a look of concern.

We see the winter has arrived, with snow falling and on the ground. He's still in the shed, lifting the Ketel bell, but with the door open. Then he notices, with a smile, that some neighbor kids right outside have joined in, imitating his exercise routine.

I'm not about to spoil the twist at the end, but yes, it will require a box of tissues!

And while this last story isn't about a holiday ad, our Andrew Malcolm recently wrote a column about a related topic-- the special bond between children and their grandparents. He shared memories of his own grandmother, right after Thanksgiving. Enjoy!

When Grandma Arrived for That Holiday Visit

Merry Christmas, RedStaters!