John Lewis’ Man on the Moon ad is sad, but the dominant Christmas emotion in the UK’s ad is merry. In Germany, not so much…

The battle for the most controversial Christmas ad seems to have been decided. Last year, it was Sainsbury’s recreation of the Christmas Day football match between opposing German and British solders during WW1.

This year, it’s Jung von Matt’s ad for German supermarket chain, Edeka.

A grandpa fakes his own death so that he doesn’t have to have Christmas alone. His family can only find time to reunite for a “funeral”.

The ad was viewed nearly 21 milllion times in its first 4 days on YouTube. It has also become a hot topic on Twitter. The majority of ‘votes’ have been positive, but the observation that the ad is dark and depressing has also been made.

It seems as though the role of older people in (or, not in) life is going to be one of the dominant themes this Christmas. The John Lewis Man on the Moon ad https://www.thestable.com.au/the-problem-with-the-john-lewis-christmas-ad/ is already famous.

And it seems as though the dominant emotion in Germany is tearfulness. Here’s another Christmas tear-jerker, by Heimat Berlin for retailer, Otto.

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