John Lewis had a trampolining dog, H&M had Wes Anderson, Sainsbury’s had a singing James Corden. But for all their big-budget sheen and tie-in products, none have mustered as much genuine emotion as this commercial for a Polish auction site, Allegro. Starring an elderly Polish man learning English for the first time, the video has rocked up almost 7 million views since it went online at the end of last month.
We watch Robert labelling all his household possessions (including his dog), reading his vocabulary book and listening to CDs in all manner of locations (his desk, the bus, even the bath) in his attempt to learn English. Why? Well, as the advert reveals in its final moments, it’s all for love: Robert can’t wait to speak English to his granddaughter (and daughter-in-law) when he visits them in the UK this Christmas.
The advert is like a mix of Edeker’s 2015 Christmas advert, and John Lewis’s “Man on the Moon” and “The Long Wait” films – with a dash of Love, Actually (language barriers and doorstep reunions) – so it ticks all the boxes of a Christmas hit. Lonely old person? Check. An agonising wait? Check. Cute pet, adorable tiny child, airport scene? Check, check, check. All topped off with some tear-filled hugs? Checkmate.
It’s funny too: many commenters thought the final twist might be Robert using some of his less child-appropriate vocabulary (“I’m going to fucking kill you!”) when meeting his granddaughter for the first time.
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But there’s also a subtly anti-Brexit message here, as love trumps borders. A spokesperson for Allegro told Buzzfeed, “Many Polish people share the same experience” as this “grandfather who overcomes obstacles to reunite with his loved ones living abroad.”
“Nearly one million Poles have decided to leave the country in search for a job, mainly heading for the United Kingdom. Despite the relatively close distance between the countries, family ties tend to weaken. Therefore, Christmas for many is a difficult time in which we yearn for more.”
An advert that encourages us to hope for “more” in our relationship with our European neighbours? Wouldn’t that be the greatest gift of all? Well, much better than a trampoline, anyway.
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