The 5: Commercials to Make You Cry

Nov 9, 2012


The 5:  Ads that Pulled Your Heartstrings

Most commercials are shit, but some are like tiny little movies that sell things.  And we hate to admit it but every now and then, a commercial catches us with a lump in our throat.  Here are five commercials that tugged at our heartstrings, and even made a few of us outright cry.

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  • Hallmark – “Active Duty” 2011.  Hallmark has the patent on tearjerker commercials. Here’s one where they use some basic elements to get us crying. A soldier stationed far from home. It’s Christmas time. He’s a dad. And then to top it all off, they bring in the greatest Christmas special of all time.  Watch it here.
  • Proctor and Gamble “Olympics – They’ll Always Be Kids” 2012.  If the Olympic Summer Games weren’t enough to make us emotional, Proctor and Gamble put together an ad that thanks all the Olympic moms. Mom and Patriotism, that’s a perfect recipe for tears. Here we see our Olympic athletes as little kids in a commercial that takes the gold in the tearjerk. Watch it here.
  • Pedigree – “Dog Adoption” 2009.  Animals are a sure thing when it comes to commercials that make us cry, especially dogs. Pedigree dog food was sponsoring an adoption campaign. Here we see a sweet dog who’s daydreaming about how sweet life would be if he just had home and was out of that cage.  Watch it here. 
  •  Google Chrome – “Dear Sophie” 2011.  Dads and their daughters. Just the sound of that makes people sentimental. This Google Chrome ad from last year takes us from sentimental to weeping in a minute and a half. It’s a dad using Google to put together all his beautiful memories to share with his daughter when she’s older. They grow up so fast. (sniff)  Watch it here.
  • State Farm – “I’ll Be There” 2009.  State Farm insurance is brutal on the emotions in this commercial. They bring it all. Homes destroyed, cancer survivors, the elderly displaced and soldier moms coming home. And if you aren’t crying yet, just wait. They put it all to the Jackson 5′s “I’ll Be There”.  Watch it here. 

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42 comments
ray57
ray57

those geico commercials make me want to kill. anyone else?

Hepcat22
Hepcat22

 @ray57

 I like the Allstate Mayhem guy.  Wish he would walk along, step on the gekko and kick it over into the ditch.

FLprodivider66
FLprodivider66

These marketing firms are not stupid when it comes to feeding off of peoples emotions to sell a product (shakes head in disgust..) :\

Recyclerz
Recyclerz

President Obama must have seen these before he gave that speech to his campaign staff yesterday.

Docintoxicated
Docintoxicated like.author.displayName 1 Like

Every time I see a commercial for A new Tyler Perry movie or Honey Boo Boo I shed a tear for humanity.

 

 

DeathProof
DeathProof like.author.displayName 1 Like

My life is so miserable, these actually cheered me up!

edrooney
edrooney

Budweiser Clydesdale commercial Super Bowl 2002.  I can't even pull it up now and watch it because I'll be a godammed wreck by the end of it.

ImUrHuckleberry
ImUrHuckleberry

Awww, Did the CRY BABY CENTAUR shed some tears ??............I'm sure he did. Then he change his GIANT Centaur Tampon.

justForRon0Fez
justForRon0Fez

Dear Sophie,

  I put hundreds of images and videos of you on the internet without your consent.  They'll be there forever, and you'll have no control over it.

 

Love,

  Dad

justForRon0Fez
justForRon0Fez

i'd laugh if at the end of the hallmark commercial, one of his bunkmates screamed "shut the fuck up man!"

c_ocobean
c_ocobean

any commercial that shows animals in distress will make me weep like Obama-

BadNewsJeff
BadNewsJeff

I hate commercials, and I especially hate this type.  They try to tap into the viewer's deepest emotion, then at the very end they slap their brand up on the screen.  You think it has no effect on you, that you're no rube?  It's not your conscious mind they are targeting, but rather your subconscious.  I think one day we will see that so many of our (relatively) new emotional and ADD type problems that we are seeing in kids can be attributed to (or at least added to by) the emotional onslaught they face from commercials.  One commercial break might make a kid happy, scared, laugh, happy again, then jealous.  I don't think we are equipped to handle these quick 30 second swings, especially not when we are younger and more easily influenced by what we see. 

LizSetsFire
LizSetsFire like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName like.author.displayName 5 Like

I cry at a lot of commercials. I blame it on my vagina.

@Ezra_Desu
@Ezra_Desu

Are men allowed to cry while watching commercials?

Narc Zito
Narc Zito

 @Ezra_san Just ask yourself.  Would Ron Bennington cry?  The answer is no.

@Ezra_Desu
@Ezra_Desu

@Narc Zito I love Ronnie, but he doesn't exactly exude warmth. #BlackHeart

Foggy_Otis
Foggy_Otis

@Ezra_san Girly men are expected to!

@Ezra_Desu
@Ezra_Desu like.author.displayName 1 Like

@Foggy_Otis I guess I'm a girly man. Haha.

harlequincy
harlequincy

Budweiser Clydesdale commercial!? Niagara falls Frankie Angel

Foggy_Otis
Foggy_Otis like.author.displayName like.author.displayName 2 Like

That damn Sarah McLaughlin ASPCA commercial kills me every time!

jerkaruso
jerkaruso like.author.displayName 1 Like

 @Foggy_Otis I've never made it through the entire thing. GRAB THE REMOTE!!! CHANGE IT!

Foggy_Otis
Foggy_Otis like.author.displayName 1 Like

@jerkaruso shit, now when i hear that song, i'm out!

Binary Daoist
Binary Daoist like.author.displayName 1 Like

Fortunately I haven't had cable since 2008 so I haven't seen any of these...

Binary Daoist
Binary Daoist like.author.displayName like.author.displayName 2 Like

 @jerkaruso I still watch TV, just not enough to justify cable...  I rather spend a hundred bucks on a few shows I love and save a grand per year not having cable.

Binary Daoist
Binary Daoist

 @jerkaruso  Hakuna matata...  my post comes off as too cool for tv... which I'm def not...  TV is finally good again...  I do miss watching hockey though...  not like it matters in 2012.


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