Heartwarming / Advertising

aka: Commercials

"Happy Christmas."
"Frohe Weihnachten."

What does it take to make consumers want to buy a product? Sometimes, just a little d'aaaaaawwww.

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Sub-pages:

• Public Service Announcements & Public Information Films
• M&M's
• The Year of Luigi

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Acceptance

• Sheraton Hotels. You belong.
• An advert for the Renault Twingo shows a group of trendy young twenty-somethings in a car pulling up beside a night-club, and examining with dismay the long queues. Then the driver looks at a group of drag queens near the front, and catches one's eye. There's a flash of recognition. "Dad?" The father looks panic-stricken, terrified. His secret has been discovered, in such an awkward way and and in such a public place. This can only end badly. "Can you get us in?" The father's expression on seeing his son's ready acceptance and complete lack of judgement would melt butter.
• This Sprite commercial where a bunch of school friends reunite after years. The last one to join the group is now a male-to-female trans person... and her friends happily hug her, not minding one single bit.
• Google throws its support behind the It Gets Better Project. There's an advertisement for Google Chrome in there, but the commercial is a minute and a half long, and Google Chrome is only mentioned for 2 seconds of that time.
• I'll hold your hand.
• A commercial for Red Rose tea has a nervous daughter sharing a cup of tea with her father when another girl arrives, and the father mentions he didn't know she was having a friend over. The daughter fearfully tells her father that Amy isn't her friend...she's her girlfriend. When the father silently gets up and walks away, the daughter looks utterly heartbroken. Then the father returns with a third cup, puts it down in front of the girlfriend, smiles, and says "Hi, Amy. Tell me a little bit about yourself."
• "Now and Then", a 2018 Las Vegas commercial. I'm not crying, you're crying! Its high production values making it look like a short film also help.

Animals / Pets

• This commercial makes you want to go out and buy a lot of Pedigree.
• The one from MasterCard with the elephant.
• Several Budweiser commercials.
  • And some others.
    • This commercial about the bond of a Clydesdale horse and a puppy. And somewhere around there, it mentions beer, but it's about the puppy and the horse.
    • A continuation of the tale of the puppy and the horse premiered at the Super Bowl in 2015. The puppy ends up getting accidentally taken from home after stowing away in his horse friend's trailer and driven away. As the horse and the puppy's own fret over its well-being, the puppy makes a long, arduous journey home. Just as his home is in view, however, he finds himself cornered by a hungry wolf. The horse takes notice, however, and leads a cavalry of other horses to rescue the puppy and escort it back home, to his owner.
    • There's another Budweiser one, which focuses on having a plan to make it home when out drinking. It shows how close a man is with his dog. One night, he goes out drinking with friends, and tells the dog he'll be back later. Hours pass, and the man doesn't come home, making the dog sad. The commercial then cuts to black, with the text, "For some, the waiting never ended," and you assume the worst (That the man drove drunk and died in an accident). But then, the man comes home the next morning, saying that he spent the night at a friends house because he didn't think it was a good idea to drive home. Friends are waiting, indeed.
  • Their Super Bowl 52 commercial manages to hit close to home, in a good way; for people who've suffered during one of the worst series of natural disasters known to the United States, it's a welcome reminder that help came, and would come again if it was needed.
• The Iams "best part of adopting a pet..." commercials. The one where the woman brings the scruffy dog to his new home, and is trying to get him to play with a tennis ball. He lays down on the floor and stares at it, she gives up, he goes and brings her the tennis ball. Cue "...is when the pet adopts you" voiceover.
  • Iams does another one with a man and a cat.
• There's this one Cesar dog food commercial that shows a Westie looking over a sleeping woman in the early hours of the morning, and the words "I promise" and then "to be there when you wake up" appear. Anyone who knows the joys of waking up to a doggie can attest to this being pure CMOH.
• "Dream Weekend" by Subaru is about a man who creates and carries out a bucket list... for his elderly dog.
• Christmas themed Coke commercials. Especially the one where a baby polar bear is offered a Coke by a baby penguin. Too cute.
• Nissan's commercial for their hybrid car features a lone bear driven from his home by global warming and genuinely grateful to learn that not all Humans Are Bastards.
• "Hey, boy. We got you something." "It's your new sister."
• You gotta love this goldfish.
• This Ikea advert. Everything really is cuter with kitties!
• To embrace a stranger as our own. It's in our nature.
• This Purina commercial is a great example of a dog commercial done right. Also a bit of a Tear Jerker.
• This ad by Dawn showing people using it to clean animals effected by oil spills.
• A pet adoption ad features two cats in a cage, each cheerfully insisting that "Today's the day someone's going to adopt us!". They go on like this the entire day until it's obvious that it's not going to happen. But the last thing they say before going to sleep?
  First Cat: "Tomorrow's the day someone's going to adopt us!"
  Second Cat: "For sure!"
  • It gets paired with Tearjerker when you realize that they never lose hope. Even as the day goes on and on, they remain as cheerful and optimistic, and not in any sort of Stepford Smiler way—it's completely sincere.
• This New York Lottery ad features an adorable bodega cat taking a scratch-off ticket and traveling across the city to drop it into the bodega owner's Christmas stocking, while a cover of How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You) plays.

An Awesome World with Awesome People

• This commercial. The Boom De Ya Da ads restore faith in humanity.
  • And part two.
• This T-Mobile Advertisement.
• This trailer for DisneyNature's Oceans makes you realize you live on the best place in the universe, and you've barely seen any of it.
• This World Cup ad that aired in Australia immediately prior to the WC opening ceremonies. It aired, sometimes in pieces, throughout the tournament. This ad will make you happy to be part of the world.
• Nikon produced a series of advertisements for its cameras, around the idea of, "I am ... " while capturing moments with your camera. Overall, the ads were heart-warming and wonderful. But this ad, featuring Robbie Williams, is phenomenal. At about the 00:13 point, there's footage of Robbie asking a stadium full of people to hold up their cameras with the 'flash' switched on and take a photo, everyone, all at the same time. His "Oh my God!" as he staggers back suits the moment perfectly. It's brilliant.
• This T-Mobile advert.
• This commercial for Coca-Cola, encouraging people to "look at the world a little differently" (accompanied by Supertramp's "Give A Little Bit") as it shows random (and not so random) acts of kindness from around the world, captured from security cameras.
• And may you stay... forever young.

Children and Children-at-heart

• This AT&T Commercial, touching the wide eyed child in all of us. "Happy fifth birthday again..." and the World of Pure Imagination brings back memories of how beautiful the world can look to the imaginative.
• This is quite possibly my favorite commercial of the past five years. Even if you don't happen to be quite as big an NFL fan , you can't deny that the ending is one big D'AWWWW payoff.
  • Oh, and it's directed by David Fincher...which could really either be a credit to or a mark against it.
• These commercials for Jif peanut butter.

Christmas

• This commercial for Honey Nut Cheerios that played on Christmas up until the early 2000s.
  • "Merry Christmas, Mr. Scrooge."
• The skating Christmas McDonald's ad from the '80s. Awww.
  • Also this.
  • And this one.
• Speaking of Christmas ads this classic spot for Miller High Life.
• This one, for Coca-Cola.
  • The Coca-Cola Caravans commercials.
• This one, for Folger's coffee. Damn you, you manipulative Madison Avenue bastards!
• There was also this wonderful animated Christmas spot that aired on CBS in the late '60s.
• "Santa?!” “Barney!!” “My Pebbles!!!" “Your Pebbles?~” "'Tis the season for sharing, Fred..." "Happy Holidays, pal..."
• This. Not for anything in the ad, except... THEY BROUGHT BACK FARFEL. NESTLE'S BROUGHT BACK FARFEL. They do care.
• Spending Christmas together? Priceless.
• Hallmark's Tom's Coming for Christmas ad. A young boy is waiting at Christmastime for his considerably older brother to come home for Christmas, so they can sing together in the choir. Alone and somewhat put off by his absence, the boy starts singing 'O Holy Night' and exactly when he gets to 'A Thrill Of Hope', his brother shows up and joins in.
• The Kay Jewelers commercial with the man and his deaf wife having Christmas together. The husband starts clumsily signing (while talking) that he learned a new sign for "Merry Christmas", which he uses as he hands his wife a box. She opens it and smiles when she sees the necklace inside the box.
• This famous John Lewis advert from Christmas 2012. There's a reason it became so popular.
  • And here's the one for 2013, titled 'The Bear and the Hare'. Seriously, John Lewis make the best Christmas ads.
  • Here's the one for 2014, featuring Monty the Penguin. Can you say "DDDAAAWWWW"?
  • The 2015 one, entitled "Man on the Moon", is a Tear Jerker as well.
  • 2016 brought us Buster the Boxer.
  • The 2018 Christmas ad, featuring "Your Song" by Elton John.
    Some gifts are more than just a gift.
  • The 2022 ad features a man trying (and failing) to learn to skate. At the end of the ad, we discover his motivation when he and his wife's foster daughter arrives for the first time, holding a skateboard. Towards the end, we hear them converse about skateboarding.
• This Venezuelan Christmas ad for Plumrose ham. It was so popular (and reused), it got a sequel-follow up 20 years later, with the girl from the first ad now gown up.
• This Toys for Tots commercial is sure to warm at least a few hearts.
• This Walmart commercial gets me every time.
• This one, if you live away from home.
• Happy Christmas from Yellow Pages.
• This UK advert for Waitrose.
• Sainsbury's 2013 and 2014 Christmas adverts. The first, officially titled Christmas In A Day is made up of viewer-submitted clips that show the little moments that make Christmas special, while the second is Based on a True Story (the Christmas Truce of 1914) and created in conjunction with the 100th anniversary of the event. And yes, they showed their work, conducting interviews and reading first-hand accounts to make it as accurate as possible.
  • Their 2015 Christmas advert, "Mog's Christmas Calamity", narrated by Emma Thompson and written by Judith Kerr herself. It begins with Mog the cat waking up from a bad dream on Christmas morning and accidentally destroying half the house, along with the Christmas presents and decorations. The fire brigade arrives, after which the Thomas family return to their ruined Christmas. Then there's a knock on the door. It's their friends and neighbours, who have all turned up to help out and share their Christmas.
    "But everyone else thought, if the Thomases and Mog can't have a Christmas, they can share ours."
• Japanese Railways' "Xmas Express" series of ads from The '80s and The '90s (and briefly in 2000 before the brand went defunct).
• This 2014 Apple Ad features a girl who finds an old voice-o-graph disc from her great-grandmother singing "Our Love Is Here To Stay". As the song plays it shows the girl making a digital recording of the song and adding several tracks of her voice harmonizing with her great-grandmother's. When she finishes she puts it on an iPod and wraps it up with the disc and some photos as a gift for her grandmother. The look on her face is touching.
• This 2015 Microsoft Ad. The employees of a Microsoft store on 5th Ave gather in front of a nearby Apple store with a local NYC children's chorus and break into a lovely rendition of "Let There be Peace on Earth".
• More of a Thanksgiving one than a Christmas one, but it still fits into this folder. In 2016 Macy's premiered this commercial about a kid seeing the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in person when a balloon of Santa winks at him. As the boy grows older he still watches the parade in that same spot every year and the balloon winks every time it sees him. Eventually, there comes a time where he does not attend, and the balloon flies away to a countryside where the now-elderly protagonist lives. When they make eye contact, the balloon winks and then flies away.
• "Frankie's Holiday", Apple's 2016 iPhone ad, features Frankenstein's Monster heading into town, placing Christmas light bulbs into his neck bolts, and hesitantly singing "There's no place like for Home for the Holidays", despite the fact that people are scared of him. When he sees people are still afraid of him, he starts to get sad, which only gets worse when one of the bulbs go out, leaving poor Frankie looking like he's about to cry. Then, one little girl beckons him over, taps the bulb to relight it, and joins him in singing. Frankie gives a small smile of gratitude and continues the song, but then the whole town joins in, to his astonishment. It ends with Frankie smiling as tears well up in his eyes, finally getting the acceptance he's always wanted.
  Tagline: Open your heart to everyone
  • Heck, this would melt your heart even if it wasn't a commercial. Just the idea of Frankenstein going down to a place that's afraid of him just to spread a little holiday cheer. If that doesn't warm your heart, I don't know what will.
• This commercial from Network Rail, telling people to appreciate the track engineers who work over Christmas to upgrade the lines and stations.
• The 2017 sequel to the M&M's "They do exist!" commercial. With Santa (and Red) unconscious, Peanut takes up the responsibility of delivering everyone's presents. In his panic, he randomly delivers all the gifts to the wrong locations (many of them not even inside houses), but... well, see for yourself.
  Peanut: Did I ruin Christmas, Red?
  Red: Actually, buddy, I think you made it even better.
• For Christmas 2020, Amazon UK released an advert about a young ballet dancer whose recital is cancelled by the COVID-19 pandemic. Thankfully, her peers pull some strings and help her give off a rooftop performance for her neighborhood. The tagline: The Show Must Go On.
• This commercial for the New York Lottery, featuring an adorable bodega cat traveling across the city to drop a lottery ticket in the bodega owner's Christmas stocking.
• In the late 90s/early 2000s, Planters aired a short yet sweet commercial set to "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas". The ad features Santa Claus, Rudolph, and Mr. Peanut watching a home video recording of Mr. Peanuts' first Christmas as a baby.

Family

• This ad from P&G brands that aired frequently during the 2010 Winter Olympics.
  • It got a follow-up for the 2012 Summer Olympics.
  • And yet another for the 2014 Winter Olympics.
• This Tim Hortons’ ad, all about hockey and fathers.
• There was a MasterCard commercial in the early nineties, where a little boy is upset that his mother has to go away for work on his birthday. The mom is promising him all sorts of lavish presents when she gets back, but it's not working, so finally she asks him what he wants. Cut to the mother, on an airplane for her business trip . . . with the kid next to her. Awww . . . . .
• This commercial for a Chilean candy brand. Specially the ending.
• This commercial. Yes, Godzilla is a good daddy.
• From an A&W commercial: a guy and his wife visit her parents and it's obvious that he and his father-in-law do not see eye-to-eye. Even when he offers to take the family to A&W for dinner, Dad simply says, "I'll drive," and orders for the group, "Mama Burger, Papa Burger, and two Teens." Cut to the family sitting down, where the son-in-law is handing out the burgers. He gives to his father-in-law not a Papa Burger, but a "Grandpa Burger?" The couple smiles. Mom and daughter stand up and hug each other. Dad and son-in-law stand up, Dad puts a hand on his son-in-law's shoulder, smiles (for the first time in the spot), and says, "Where are my onion rings?"
• An old commercial from a Finnish telephone operator: A little girl and her family are packing up for a vacation. The girl wants to take her giant teddy bear with her. It won't fit into her small suitcase, and her parents won't let her take the bear with her. So she packs with her a toy cell phone and waves bye to the bear as she leaves it sitting on a chair with another toy phone in its lap.
• For this commercial, a father goes to meet his daughter, whom is rather surprised to see him, as it implies they haven't seen each other for a while. He tells her he's going to bring her to her favourite place. In confusion, she says that she doesn't have a favourite place. Turns out he brings her to Swiss Chalet, a place where she used to love as a child. The father dips his nose in some red sauce as a little imitation of Rudolph that he used to do just for his daughter. And he says in an absolutely heartwarming voice that he missed his daughter and she replies that she missed him too. As a bonus, she called him Rudolph too, a little nickname between the two of them.
• For this Hallmark commercial, a mother is sending her little daughter off to her first day of school. She hands the girl her lunch and waves as the bus drives off. The girl opens up her lunch and sees a card. She opens it, and as "Say" by John Mayer plays in the background, smiles as she sees the words "love you" written on the inside.
• A 2003 commercial for Time Warner Cable's then-new remote feature to pause live TV had a kid coming to his father watching golf to ask him to help him with his homework. The father has an imagine spot of the kid failing his homework, getting kicked out of school and riding the rails with hobos. The father decides to pause his game and help his son.
• One ad for Jello Pudding features a father and his son eating chocolate pudding. When the son asks his father what's so good about it the father explains a little about what his day was like to show why he looks forward to the pudding; the son imagines himself as his father going through everything his father describes. At the end the son pushes his own pudding cup toward his father and says, "You need this more than I do."
• The Disney "Magic Happens" commercials. A couple talking about their relationship, a nervous man giving his girlfriend an unexpected gift, a dad spending time with his kids or maybe going on a business trip, a young boy sleeping with drawings on the floor (whose name is Walt!), a grandfather's birthday party or a game of Scrabble.
• This Geico commercial. Car insurance has never been more precious.
• This Google commercial, titled "Parisian Love," where a man's relationship with a woman he met in France, from their first meeting to their first child, is tracked through his Google searches. "How to assemble a crib."
  • Making it better was that it was a Super Bowl Special commercial, and stood out so much more compared to the general dumbening.
  • There's a second one, “Graduation” where a woman from Vietnam starts a new life in the United States with her son, tracking her searches from "bringing a child to the US" to "what is valedictorian".
    • Before the YouTube comments section was renovated, the top rated comment on the video (usually a source of vicious bile) is simply: "This is my story. I am that son. Thanks mom."
  • Dog, another Google search story, probably created by a fan, takes the searches from "animal control" to "adopting stray dog," searches familiar to anyone who's done this, from "screen door repair" to "dog ate a dryer sheet" and a map for hiking trails, accompanied by sound effects; then we hear a painful whine — "24 hour veterinarian" — and "Mr. Blake? We found the problem!" then "puppy-proof everything".
  • This one. It's the soundtrack from Cast Away which really does it.
  • From Google India, a beautiful tale of friendship and reunion.
  • And eleven years after "Parisian Love", "Loretta" depicts an elderly man reminiscing about his wife.
• Here is another Tim Hortons commercial that is Based on a True Story, about an immigrant man being reunited with his family.
• A certain Vodafone advert.
• This commercial for Walt Disney World's 25th anniversary, which appeared on the original Toy Story VHS.
• "Rosi", a Volvo-commercial that kicks the idea of a bumbling, incompetent, child-unfriendly Sit-Com dad in the nuts, pulls its coat over its head, and pushes it down a flight of stairs. This essay explores the Rosi commercial and calls it "advertising as we used to make it", noting the focus on Dad's concern about safety and how they didn't have to overemphasize either his love for Rosi or the technical features of the vehicle that make it safe.
  One of the things I love about the ad is that "Dad" is played with restraint. It would have been easy to have him "mug" his reaction or signal how achingly sweet this moment is. But, no, that would have been patronizing. Rosie is plenty because Rosie is everything. We know exactly what is going on here. No additional indexing, no additional "viewing instructions" are necessary. What we get from Dad, at the end of the spot, is the littlest smile as he drives away. Rosie, of course, is still talking.
  • To an earlier generation, the sight of a kindergartener happily bubbling over with nonsense and the dad having not clue one what she's saying and listening as if he did brings a special kind of happy tears. There was a time when that speech pattern was considered a sign of childhood schizophrenia.
• This Thai commercial about a pregnant woman and her comatose husband. Also doubles as a major Tear Jerker. TVC Life Insurance has produced a number of these.
• This South African ad about an illiterate man who learns to read for a very special reason.
• This is just adorable. It's a Mormon Ad about.. well, just watch.
• This ad about a little girl whose brother has lost his hair in Chemo
• This Subaru commercial.
• This commercial for Jif Peanut Butter — even if you're generally immune to the power of "cute kids" in advertising, this one will warm your heart.
• This ad for the Ocarina of Time remake, featuring Robin Williams and his daughter Zelda. His remark at the end is amazingly sweet.
• When Xbox Live first launched, we were given this lovely commercial. It's about four brothers who used to play Xbox all the time, but one of them gets married. As a wedding gift, the other brothers give him an Xbox Live subscription and microphone, so they can continue to play like they used to.
• This commercial for Extra gum. A father entertains his daughter by making tiny origami cranes out of the gum wrappers. We see them together as she grows up, him offering her cranes in happy and sad moments. At the end, the grown daughter is moving out on her own and the father helps her pack up her car, and he accidentally knocks over a shoe box...full of origami cranes. Excuse me...there's something in my eye...
• This German ad for a home improvement brand features a Goth girl being bullied and ostracized by everyone around her (which is unfortunately Truth in Television). After a day of strange glances and teasing, she comes home to discover her father is in the process of repainting their entire home black in support.
• This State Farm Commercial. A guy shown in the video constantly saying the things he won't get or do, like getting married, having kids, before showing in the next scene him doing exactly that. It ends with him not regretting his actions.
• The Kraft Peanut Butter commercial where a little baby girl is given a Kraft Teddy Bear, grows up with it, and keeps it into adulthood while her own newborn child gets a Kraft Teddy Bear as well.
• One commercial for home ownership features a family of a mother, father, and two small children moving into their new house. The kids open a rear door and shout "Wow, we have a backyard!", running out to play. The father notices his wife looking out the window at the kids having fun with tears in her eyes. When he asks why she's crying, she smiles and quietly says "...it's my first backyard, too."
• This commercial for Calvin Klein features Jake Gyllenhaal as a doting father playing with his young daughter as he and his onscreen wife recite a poem, and ends with Jake giving the girl a kiss on the forehead and hugging her. It is as adorable as it sounds.

Friends

• You know who your mates are.
• There used to be a commercial commercial for the lotto about an old man and his friends who go fishing at a pond every day, but they never catch anything. One night, the old man wins the lottery and spends his money on a truck full of fish and dumps them in the lake. When he and his friends next go fishing, they catch some. Awww!
• This ad for PS4. Never before has the experience of playing video games with a good friend been so perfectly portrayed.
• An Amazon Prime commercial shows a priest and an imam get together in the priest's home for a cup of tea. They sit and talk for a while, both shown rubbing their knees. And when the imam gets up to leave, they both wince at pain in their knees, but neither makes mention of it. After the imam leaves, it shows both in thought before getting out their smartphones and ordering something, with the packages being received in the next scene. It's revealed they'd bought each other a pair of knee braces/pads, which they put on under their vestments before going to practice their faith in their own way (the imam bowing in reverence to Mecca, and the priest kneeling in prayer).
• This ad shows a kid frantically gathering up his friends, saying that Owen is going to do something. When they all arrive at the house, we see Owen playing a game using an adaptive controller and joystick. The group erupts in cheers as their friend beats his game, chanting his name, and Owen asks what they should play next.

Good Deeds

• This and this. The Liberty Mutual "Good Deeds" commercial are popular sources of this trope.
• This "Share a Coke" commercial from 2014 about a girl named Jess who frequents a convenience store in the summer to buy Cokes, where a boy named Chris is employed as a cashier. Throughout the day she and her friends return in droves to buy Cokes while spending time outside having fun, while he keeps on working. After he gets off work at night, she comes back to give him a Coke then reveals that she and her friends have thrown a block party in his honor.
• This Coke ad from 1980 featuring Mean Joe Greene...I think we all know how this one goes.
• This commercial about a little girl whose dog is missing and she's putting up lost dog signs. A guy notices and starts a chain with his phone to find the dog while the girl is walking home. When she gets home and sees her dog waiting for her . . . runs off weeping.
  • And the fact that the group managed to get Tyler Hansborough who has been something like the face of Collegiate basketball for the past 3 years to help out and deliver the dog as well.
• There was this commercial where a little old lady, who is blind, is trying to cross the street, but couldn't. So she asked the man beside her to help her, which he did. As they were walking across the street, we see that the man helping her was also blind.
• This commercial from the Make a Wish Foundation. It takes the collaboration of the town and a good-hearted teacher to make one boy's wish to be a superhero come true.
• A commercial from Thailand shows the rewards of a single act of kindness.
  • There is a trend for stories of kindness and inspiration in commercials in Thailand. Unsung Hero, Forget Me Not, Garbage Man and Follow the Father (about HM King Rama IX) for TVC Life Insurance, A Mother, A Daughter, & a Pineapple for AIS, and Father & Son for Bernas Rice are some of the best. Boss Da Market is a PSA from CP-All and 7-Eleven about believing everything you see on social media. Many of these are produced by Ogilvy & Mather Bangkok advertising agency. Here's a Q&A about how they create them.
  • "Unsung Hero" has over 49 million views in 2019. It is the ninth most shared viral video in the world.
  • While being on the subject of commercials from Thailand, there is also this one (first released in 2013) made for TrueMove H (a cellphone and mobile telecommunications operator. It starts with a young boy named Prajak being caught stealing medicine to give his ill mother. Luckily for him, a street food vender intervenes and pays for the medicine and then has his daughter provide a can of vegetable soup to go with the painkillers. Thirty years later, the street vender collapses from an illness of some sort. His daughter is distraught about the 792,000 Baht (roughly equivalent to US$24,000) medical bill that will have to be paid (having to resort to selling away their business). However, when the surgery is completed, she finds this instead: Summary of Medical expenses: 0 Baht across all categories. This is followed by a message stating "All expenses paid 30 years ago with three packs of painkillers and a bag of veggie soup. Best regards, Dr. Prajak Arunthong".
• This Lipton ad features Kermit the Frog telling you to be more tea. (It's however gained infamy for spawning a memetic gif of Kermit drinking tea.)
• In this Hallmark commercial, a woman enters a grumpy professor's office as he packs it up; she explains that she was one of his former students, and heard he was retiring. The professor, who's obviously grouchy about having to leave, claims he doesn't remember the woman and acts dismissive, even when she offers him a card she bought for the occasion. He makes her read the card aloud (he can't find his glasses), which is all about what an inspiration he was to many people, including her. The professor, touched, cites the paper the woman wrote for him, proving he does remember her, and commends her as she heads for the door. But the real clincher is when he asks what she used her education to become—"Investment banker? Internet guru?" The woman stops, turns back, and says "No...I'm a teacher." Cue waterworks.
• Lyft, a ride sharing service, made a short animation advertisement for their company. Not only is the main focus a widow who chose to work for the company, it climaxes when one of her clients brings help to move her stuck car from the snow. What goes around, comes around.
• Mexican deli meat company Fud has made several heartwarming ads for the annual Teletón event that helps children with physical disabilities:
  • The most memorable ad had a pair of little sausages with sticks, meant to be a child's legs, weakly "walking" while a piano plays in the background. The legs eventually get faster and steadier until it jumps in a plate filled with other little sausages on sticks, meaning it could finally join the other "kids".
    • A later sequel to this ad had a pair of little sausages kick a pea (representing a soccer ball) to another pair of little sausages. At first it seems it's too weak to kick the pea, but finally manages to do so, with children heard in the background cheering.
  • This ad had people buying packages of Fud after being told every package bought helps raise money for Teletón. Once they buy the package, a group of disabled children come up to the customer and thank them for their purchase. Cue emotional hugging, people clapping, confetti, and a song sung by children about helping them reach their dreams.
• There was a beer commercial of where two young guys are attending a baseball game at a stadium and seen an old baseball fan seating in the row immediately front and below them covered in paraphernalia including a baseball mitt for the chance of catching a fly-ball. Sure enough, an opportunity comes up and one of the young guys catches it, and puts it in the old fan's baseball mitt. Impressed, the guy's friend gives him a beer later, playfully saying, "See if you can hold on to this!"

Hope

• There is one cancer treatment ad that doesn't seem to be online, but one troper described it as this: A clown entertains a crowd. The clown sees a young girl with a cap on her head. The clown tries to take off the cap. The mother shakes her head and takes off the cap for him. The young girl is bald and dying from cancer. The clown resumes entertaining the crowd, asking them to put money into the cap. The clown then places the cap on the girl. When he takes it off again, her hair is back, her sickness is gone. The mother cups her hands over her mouth and cries.
  • Said troper claims the first time they saw it was with "a crowd of hard-nosed marketing professionals who had over a century's worth of experience combined. Yet not a sound could be heard in the room, except sobs."
• This State Farm ad.
• ALL of the Foundation for a Better Life commercials are this. Particularly " Homecoming/True Beauty", "Piñata" and " The Race". Just go watch them all, and try not to cry :)
• The Princess Margaret Hospital Foundation's 'Conquer Cancer' commercial.
• A commercial for a chain of retirement homes with an old man talking about his life from boyhood on a farm with chickens, through military service and marriage, to how he's now living in "a rather nice care home" - and they even let him keep chickens. At that point the shot changes so his hands are full of baby chicks and it's adorable.
• This commercial might be one of my favorite ads of all time. Sure, its inadvertent message is "Supporting this billion dollar company, as opposed to the other billion dollar company, makes you a unique individual", but that beautiful girl taking out her head phones and standing up is a truly awesome moment. What eyes!
  • Genius Bonus, it's a takeoff on the famous Macintosh commercial; "so 1984 won't be like Nineteen Eighty-Four."
• Teach. A commercial to encourage more people to become teachers.
• This ad showing what McDonald's can do for a special person.
• This ad from Farmers Insurance giving people hope the 2020 Coronavirus (aka COVID-19) crisis will be one more thing that they "will have seen and done." It reminded people besides the funny commercials, in the past, Farmers has also helped people through fires and hurricanes, too.
  • This piece shows what went into this spot, too.

Love

• This United Airlines ad truly shows what love is all about.
• These ads for Gold Blend. They were played in a 5 year time-period so the last one resulted in "Squee" and "Awww" throughout the land. In fact, they were so popular that they spawned a novel called Love Over Gold.
  • In the United States these commercials were retooled to where Anthony Stewart Head played an American man (and the British woman stayed British) and were for Taster's Choice coffee. They were also wildly popular in the U.S.
• Every Day Is A Chance To Stir Things Up Another coffee commercial but for the creamer, Coffee Mate. A wife is about to go back to work after her cancer treatments and is uncertain about how she will be received by her co-workers. Her husband is giving encouraging words as he pour her a cup of coffee. After taking a sip she decides to go to work without her wig and remove it. Her husband smile, pressing his head against her forehead, murmuring that ‘bald is beautiful’. The wife smile back and reply ‘You should know’ gripping his hand. (The husband is also bald). Beautiful moment of supporting your spouse.
• This commercial. The woman signs that she's tired that things are always the same and instead of letting her rant on, her boyfriend/husband hands her the coffee, signs that he loves her and wipes away a tear. The tagline states "It's not what you say, it's what you do." Awww!
• What did I not do to get this phone to ring? A stubborn graveyard shift DJ finds a way!
• This series of commercials from ''Telcel'', featuring a cover of "You were always on my mind" by Andrés Calamaro.
• Another one from McDonald's, this time from India. Who would've thought the McAloo Tikki (a veggie burger made out of potatoes) would be enough to start Puppy Love between two Indian children?
• This commercial for AXE Body Spray. It shows four war-related scenes from all over the world—a bombed out urban battleground with a woman confronting a tank; a helicopter landing in a southeast Asian village and an American GI jumps out; a military parade held in what really isn't supposed to be North Korea, we swear, guys!; and a man carrying a "nuclear football" case through a middle-eastern palace to the man in charge. However, as it's for Axe Peace, things turn for the better:
  • That bombed out city battlefield? the driver pops out of the tank, the woman (his girlfriend) calls out his name and runs up to him and hugs him.
  • The helicopter landing in the village? The GI runs up to the woman and she kisses him, dropping his gun in a puddle of mud.
  • The military parade? On cue, the crowd holds up panels that form a mosaic of the leader and his beloved framed in a heart. She sneakily holds his hand while he grins like the cat that got the canary.
  • The guy with his finger on the button? He presses the button and it cues up a fireworks display for her. She loves it.
• The Aami Insurance adds from Australia featuring Rhonda and Kahtut. Especially the final add where they reunite after the school reunion.
• This Pepsi commercial, spotted during the 2003 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.
• Segata Sanshiro is most well-known for beating anyone who doesn't play Sega Saturn into submission, but the commercial for Sakura Wars 2 changes things up by showing Segata Sanshiro frolicking beneath blossoming cherry trees with Sakura Shinguji.
• The Story of Sarah and Juan
• This Hewlett-Packard ad showcasing the Star Wars Special Edition Notebook, and how one British teenager used it to his advantage when it came to his crush.
• This 1988 Snuggle Fabric Softener commercial featuring Snuggle babysitting a baby girl named "Cindy". This short but sweet commercial features Snuggle tucking Cindy into bed who is sleeping inside a cradle while discussing how snuggly and comfortable Snuggle Fabric Softener is to the viewer. Even sweeter is the fact that Snuggle is a living teddy bear actually caring for a sleeping baby and even tells the viewer to be quiet and whispering entire time. Especially since Teddy Bears are a common item for a babies to have, topped off by the cradle playing "Wiegenlied" (a traditionally lullaby).
• This add from interflora. A goth boy is crushing on a preppy girl, but she doesn't seem to notice him. When he gets home that night he changes his look and comes to school the next day looking just as preppy, but all his goth friends reject him Then he turns to see the same girl as before, now dressed like a goth and they smile at each other across the hallway.
• This Samsung India ad has a young girl insist that the TV service technician fix her TV on time. As one Youtube user commented, "Last 40Sec was blur." (sic).

Miscellaneous

• A Chevrolet commercial "Holiday Ride" has a man coming across a 1966 Chevy Impala that once belonged to his late wife. Touched by this, his daughter recruits a classic car club to fix everything up. The team restores the car and completes the job by giving it the dazzling bright blue paint. The man finds the car the next day; after exchanging some heartfelt words with his daughter, they go out for a memorable ride.
• "This Bud's For You" it's more than just a catchy song. It's the singer thanking all of the people in his city that help him through his day.
• Even when they are trying to maximize sales, beer makers will often make commercials specifically to warn parents not to let their kids drink.
• Speaking of Budweiser, this left many Cubs fans weeping happy tears. A noteworthy night indeed!
• There's this really cute one from Duracell where the infamous drumming bunny and a toy duck are left behind after a picnic, and set off after their owner. Which moment is sweeter - the bunny dragging the duck when the duck's battery runs out, or the 2 being reunited with their owner?
• This Nike commercial which played after the Boston Red Sox defeated the New York Yankees in the 2004 ALCS. Just do it, indeed.
• You probably have to be a Florida alum for this effect to kick in, but the university's series of "Go Gators!" commercials bring a tear to my eye every time. Especially those last two.
• It seems so sweet that Anthony Sullivan became the spokesman for OxiClean after Billy Mays' death...
• This "The Simpsons" based Coke commercial. Sure Mr. Burns is an evil Jerkass, but that doesn't mean he can’t have a break every once and a while!
• What does talking mean to you?
  • That commercial was considered such a powerful piece of advertising by David Gilmour that he based a Pink Floyd song around it.
• The Go World Visa commercials that air every Olympics. The narration by Morgan Freeman adds a side of CMOA.
• This Super Bowl commercial. Cheesy to be sure, but that doesn't stop it from being extremely heartwarming.
• This Coca-Cola ad. Two border guards putting aside their differences.
• Long Live Michael!: Various video game characters say thanks to their players.
• This ad for H&R Block. "I think you could use some help." has never sounded this sweet.
• This ad for Tokyo Disneyland, depicting the life of a young girl as all the happiest moments of her life take place in the theme park. Might be a full blown tearjerker for some, it's so heartwarming.
• May the force be with Japan
• By demand of the kids, the Trix Rabbit finally gets Trix!
• This commercial advertising the phrases "please" and "thank you." Oliver Twist asks his famous "Please, sir, may I have some more?" and while most of the people mock him, the man manning the gruel dumps more into his bowl, to which Oliver says "Thank you." When questioned why he gave the boy more, the man responds "Well he did say please. And thank you, too." Cue all the orphans getting up to ask for more.
• This ad by Coca-Cola that played during Superbowl XLVIII deserves a mention. The people in this ad come from various walks of life and ancestry, but regardless of whether they came to seek better opportunities or escape persecution, it is a touching tribute to the people who call the United States home.
• "Sometimes you just have to say thank you."
• In a way, these ads, for butter and Lipton respectively, both featuring Willard Scott. Sure, he might be a bit of a Base-Breaking Character due to his rather odd behavior, but he's just so cheerful and near-impossible to dislike.
• Guinness - In Pursuit Of More is an ad describing the active, heavy and long life that the enterprise has. The passion with which the people speak about their enterprise and enjoy their job is why it is on here.
• This promo for NBC's 2001-02 season.
• One commercial for Cocoa Pebbles has Fred take Barney to court for the latter's repeated attempts to steal the former's cereal. Barney says he loves Cocoa Pebbles almost as much as he loves Fred. Fred is so moved by this he willingly gives him the cereal. Or tries to, at least; the judge steals the bowl and flees.
• This Heineken ad named Worlds Apart, filmed in the UK. It features six different people with very opposing views on feminism, transgender rights and climate change. The ad opens with each of them expressing their views on those topics. Then, their polar opposites are made to work together in pairs, without knowing anything about what the other thinks about their issues. They work together to build a bar table, learning something about each other in the process. The reveals are surprising-the trans person is ex-military, the skinhead drifted to anger because he was completely homeless for a long period of time, the climate change denier prefers to calmly discuss with his opponent rather than attack them. Yet all of them are liking the other so far, despite knowing little about them. Then, they have to watch a clip of their partners talking about their views on the issues that each person feels so strongly about. They have a choice now-to leave or stay and talk their differences over two cold bottles of Heineken. Despite everything, despite how polarized and conflicted the world is today, not one of them chooses to leave and all part on good terms.
  • One standout moment belongs to the anti-trans person: after stating at the beginning that he considers gender to be purely biological, he ends the ad by asking his trans woman partner for her phone number to keep in touch despite jokingly claiming that his girlfriend might be upset at him "texting another girl".
• There was an old Ikea commercial where a woman discards an old lamp for a new one from Ikea, and the lamp mournfully watches from the sidewalk while a spokesperson walks in and declares the viewers "crazy" for feeling sorry for the lamp. 16 years later, they made a sequel where a little girl picks the lamp up off the curb, gives it a new lightbulb, and carries it with her all around the house to use it. The same man even appears again, this time saying it's not crazy to feel happy for the lamp and how important it is to reuse things.
• This advert for Polaroid starts with a despondent Gonzo convinced that no-one wants a picture of him. The other Muppets quickly prove him wrong.

Saving Lives

• This, this, and this commercial from Duracell. (This is part of the same series, but too... cliche?)
• This truly tearjerking ad for seatbelt safety might just get the point across more effectively than anything gory or violent ever could have. 11 million YouTube hits can't be wrong.

Troops and 9/ 11

• This Anheuser-Busch ad, which is also Truth in Television. The same thing happened at the Atlanta airport. The real deal was even more moving, because it was happening approximately every 5 minutes as more and more troops arrived.
• There is a Bell Canada ad that they would usually air in November, which features a young man standing on a grey coastline. He's on his cellphone, and talking to his Grandfather. He mentions he's in France, where by his grandfather asks how Paris is, and if the girls are as lovely as he remembers, and the grandson replies with "No, grandpa, I'm not in Paris. I'm in Dieppe. I just wanted to say thank you."
  • For those of you wondering, look up the battle of Dieppe.
• In the wake of the September 11th, 2001 attacks on the United States, the US Postal Service released this commercial to indicate that the post office, a constant presence since the founding of the nation, would not let anything stop it, or the nation it has served, and continues to serve, for the last two hundred plus years.
  We are mothers and fathers, and sons and daughters, who every day go about our lives with duty, honor, and pride. And neither snow, nor rain, nor heat, nor gloom of night, nor the winds of change, nor a nation challenged, will stay us from the swift completion of our appointed rounds. Ever.
  • This Visa ad, also after 9/11, is gorgeous. "The curtain will never go down on New York City."
  • Budweiser also did a nice one after 9/11, showing their signature Clydesdales bowing at the New York City skyline. A similar ad aired 10 years after the tragedy, and was mostly identical except that the One World Trade Center (under construction at the time) was included.

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