Most of us cannot stand advertisements and commercials. Especially long ones. But then there are those rare ones that were so well written, it could have very well been a movie.
It’s got over 103.5 million views. You read that right.
As far as marketing strategies go, the team responsible for this commercial struck gold. And a lot of tears.
The commercial starts off with a homeless man sleeping in front of a closed shop.
This is Thailand, and like most countries in Asia, small shops line the streets in the hopes of good business.
The roller shutter opens up and the stores owner, a middle aged man, douses the homeless man with a bucket of water. The business owner is upset, screaming at the homeless man to “Go away!”
The businessman is so mad in fact, he continues screaming at the now running beggar. Even the woman next door shakes her head in disbelief of the businessman’s actions.
When he opens shop the following day, the beggar is once again sleeping in front of his shop. Using his broom, he tickles the homeless man’s face before cursing the poor man to his feet.
Mr. store owner has a mean spirit for the most part, throwing a bottle at the beggar and even scaring the man away when he asked for some food.
The worst part is when he opens his shop and thinks that the homeless man urinated right there. In a fit of rage, he shouts at the beggar then kicks him awake before cussing him away.
The man’s daughter (assuming she is) asks her father,
“What’s he ever done to you?”
To which he just shrugs.
The next few days, he opens his shop only to find no homeless man sleeping by the door. He begins to wonder then until the lady next door says “He’s long gone.”
He looks up at his security camera… Here’s the plot twist.
Mr. businessman goes through the security recordings to see what happened to the homeless man. What he finds shook him to his very core.
He sees himself shouting and kicking at the beggar but the next few clips are what tugs at the heartstrings. That homeless man was the one keeping his shop safe in the dark hours of the morning.
Where a man attempted to spray paint the roller shutters, the beggar scared him off.
A man decided to relieve himself on his gate, and the homeless man had that guy leave too. He got accused of the deed and was eventually kicked for it, but really, it wasn’t his doing.
The most heartbreaking clip was when two men tried to forcefully enter the shop in what looked to be an attempted robbery. The beggar, in tattered clothes and all, fought both men in defense of the store.
He was beaten.
“He’s long gone.”
The beggar falls in front of the store he faithfully defended. And the store owner? Crying his eyes out just like you and I right now.
It ends with the words, “There’s much more truth that you are blind to…”
It is such a powerful statement for such a straightforward product. The marketing team really did a great job capturing viewer’s with this one. This is such a beautifully written commercial it’s moved so many people. Dried your eyes yet?
Watch this heartbreaking clip below, what a powerful message.
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