Heimkommen

Heimkommen (Homecoming) and the related hashtag #heimkommen is a German commercial video for the supermarket corporation Edeka that went viral in November and December 2015.

In the commercial, Arthur Nightingale plays a German grandfather faking his own death to reunite his family on Christmas.[1][2]

Video

The 1:46-minute commercial shows a well-to-do grandfather receiving messages over the years from his successful children around the world, who call off family get-togethers at Christmas time. Each year he eats his Christmas dinner by himself. Eventually he fakes his own death, and his grieving children and grandchildren travel to his home, only to find him still alive. He tells them, "I had no other way to bring you together". After the family unites in a joyful Christmas dinner, the final shot shows the Edeka logo.[3]

Arthur Tulloch Nightingale plays the role of the grandfather[1][4][5] The advertising agency is Jung von Matt. Alex Feil directed the clip, which was shot in Prague and Bangkok.[2] Florian Lakenmacher of Supreme Music wrote the song "Dad" for it, which is sung by Neele Ternes.[6] The song reached number 43 on the German charts.[7]

Viral phenomenon

Edeka published the commercial on Facebook and YouTube on November 28, 2015. By December 2 it had received 300,000 likes and 500,000 shares on Facebook and over 20 million views on YouTube.[8] As of 18 December 2015, views on YouTube had passed 43 million.[3]

Reviews and reactions

British retail chains (compare John Lewis Christmas advert) often use emotional commercials for Christmas, but this had not been the custom in Germany.[9][10] #heimkommen led on a current chart of such ads with more than 33 million clicks after a week.[11] The video is a showcase for Integrated marketing communications on different channels.[12]

Parodies have appeared including: a family angry about the deception killing their grandfather[13][14] and a Deutsche Bahn image showing Arthur 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).[15][16] An Italian PR agency reworked the spot shortly after its release with an Italian background; in their version, the nonno expresses fears about his stock of Parmesan cheese deteriorating.[17][18]

References
  1. "Edeka und der einsame Rentner [Edeka and the lonely retiree]". Der Tagesspiegel (in German). DPA. November 30, 2015. and Stella Stocker plays his daughter.
  2. Kerstin Münstermann (December 1, 2015). "So wurde der Edeka-Spot auf Erfolg optimiert [How the Edeka spot was optimized for success]". Die Welt (in German). Retrieved December 17, 2015.
  3. "EDEKA Weihnachtsclip - #heimkommen [EDEKA Christmas clip - #heimkommen]". YouTube (in German). Edeka. Retrieved December 18, 2015. (with English subtitles)
  4. "Grandfather Goes to Extremes to Bring Family Home for Christmas in German Ad". Los Angeles: ABC 7. December 2, 2015.
  5. "German Supermarket's Christmas ad brings millions to tears". 9News. December 3, 2015.
  6. ""Dad" von Neele Ternes – Song der Edeka-Werbung als Download". Salsa-und-tango.de (in German). Retrieved December 20, 2015.
  7. "Offizielle Deutsche Charts [Official German Charts]". offiziellecharts.de (in German). Retrieved December 20, 2015.
  8. "Plötzlich wollen Weihnachten alle zu Opa [Suddenly everyone wants to go to Grandpa's for Christmas]". Stern (in German). December 2, 2015.
  9. "Culture: The Christmas commercials that turned into a smash hit". Deutsche Welle. November 8, 2015. Retrieved December 21, 2015.
  10. "Business: German supermarket's Christmas ad goes viral". Deutsche Welle. November 30, 2015. Retrieved December 21, 2015.
  11. Shona Ghosh (December 9, 2015). "German supermarket Edeka's Christmas ad beats John Lewis and Sainsbury's on YouTube". Marketing Magazine UK. Retrieved December 21, 2015.
  12. Frank Zimmer. "Jung von Matt gelingt Weihnachts-Sensation für Edeka [Jung von Matt Achieves Christmas Sensation for Edeka]". Werben und Verkaufen (in German). Archived from the original on December 22, 2015. Retrieved December 21, 2015.
  13. Circus HalliGalli Weihnachtsclip – #heimkommen on YouTube, December 14, 2015
  14. Michael Hanfeld (December 15, 2015). "Anti-Edeka-Werbespot 'Du perverser alter Mann' [Anti-Edeka Ad: 'You Perverse Old Man']". Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (in German). ISSN 0174-4909. Retrieved December 21, 2015.
  15. DB Bahn (December 2, 2015). "Chronik-Fotos #124". Facebook. Retrieved December 17, 2015.
  16. Ulrike App (December 3, 2015). "#Heimkommen: So kümmert sich die Bahn um den Edeka-Opa [How the Railroad Deals With the Edeka Grandpa]". Werben und Verkaufen. Retrieved December 21, 2015.
  17. "Il nonno si finge morto per Natale? Spunta la parodia italiana dello spot [Grandpa fakes his death for Christmas? Check out the Italian parody of the ad]". La Stampa (in Italian). December 7, 2015. Archived from the original on December 22, 2015. Retrieved December 22, 2015.
  18. "'Se non venite tutti, butto via la parmigiana'. La risposta di Casa Surace allo spot del nonno di Edeka ['If you don't all come, I'll throw out the parmesan': Casa Surace's answer to Edeka's grandfather ad]" (in Italian). Huffington Post (Italy). December 7, 2015. Retrieved December 22, 2015.
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