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Some companies spend thousands of dollars in advertisements during the holidays. So, it comes as no surprise that the owner of an independent hardware shop has said he has been “overwhelmed" after a £100 ($130 USD) Christmas advert starring his son became a viral sensation.
Thomas Lewis Jones, who runs Hafod Hardware in Rhayader, Wales with his grandparents, created the promotional video with the help of family and friends.
It features his young son Arthur as he goes about the shop helping customers, carrying out handiwork and putting up Christmas decorations.
The ad then ends with Arthur transforming into his father, with a slogan encouraging visitors to “be a kid this Christmas."
Here it is, the Hafod Hardware Christmas Advert 2019 #BeAKidThisChristmas https://t.co/ThoZPKYuyt— Hafod Hardware (@Hafod Hardware)1575267900.0
“It has been crazy… we've been overwhelmed with nice emails and messages from all over the world," Jones told the PA news agency after the video received over 50,000 views on YouTube within two days, Jones told the PA news agency.
“The only thing we had to pay for was getting our singer into the music studio and paying the sound engineer. Everyone you see in the video is my family, there's four generations featured in the video and it was made with the help of my best friend Josh Holdaway, who is a filmmaker."
The store opened its doors in 1895, and Jones has worked there for 10 years.
“We've done adverts for the last two years, this is the third installment, Arthur features in all the adverts," he told PA. “This year we wanted to just do something that was quite simple to film that had a nice message and story. People have been coming in this morning saying congratulations… they've been bringing in bottles of champagne for us to say well done. The locals are incredible, they're our bread and butter, we're very lucky to have the community we have here in Rhayader."
@HafodHardware This is fantastic! Brought a tear to my eye. The best Christmas ad I’ve seen this year 👏👏👏👏— Lady Karen💙💙💙 (@Lady Karen💙💙💙)1575455406.0
Jones said their aim was to encourage people to shop locally over Christmas. And, I think they achieved way more than that.
@HafodHardware This beats John Lewis this year. brilliant advert. Well thought out. Always nice to see the independ… https://t.co/8JQzppyado— Tom Salter 💙 (@Tom Salter 💙)1575535629.0
Many were reminded of their family:
@HafodHardware This must be my favorite advert in some time. It beautifully captures something adverts tend to miss… https://t.co/vu01YEFrcI— Shayna 🇺🇸🇬🇧 (@Shayna 🇺🇸🇬🇧)1575548175.0
No one does better:
@steveNairn2 @HafodHardware I don’t believe a fancy marketing team could have done better.— Lady Sumac (@Lady Sumac)1575538974.0
Even puppies are on board:
@HafodHardware This is brilliant 🐾🐾— Police Dog Stella the Staffie (@Police Dog Stella the Staffie)1575477575.0
The locals loved it:
@HafodHardware A truly sebunctious advertisement, well done Josh and Tom, I particularly like the fact that Arthur wraps like me😉— shroppiemon (@shroppiemon)1575450733.0
“The underlying message is that small independent businesses can offer you just as much as your large high street chains," he said. “Try and shop locally over Christmas if you can."