Chevy’s Christmas Ad is a Tearfully Terrific Endorsement of Nuclear Family

The Chevrolet Motor Company has been part of the American fabric for well over a century, the brainchild of a Swiss race car driver named Louis Chevrolet, and an automotive engineer named William C. Durant.

In fact, the company has been so identified with the country that one of its own taglines, “Baseball, hot dogs, apple pie, and Chevrolet,” is often quoted as something of an American creed.

But the company clearly wants to be known for something else – specifically as the company selling the ideal car for the family.

For the fifth straight year, the General Motors brand is out with a heartwarming, tearjerker of a short film/advertisement. It features an empty nest married couple reminiscing about the years driving to their cabin with their children in the family’s 1987 Chevy Suburban.

The full-length version is just over three minutes. A 60-second spot debuted on Thanksgiving Day.

Of course, the couple is driving in their vehicle while looking back across the years – passing all kinds of triggers – the spot where there was the big “diaper” incident, the Christmas tree farm where they bought all the ornaments and accidentally tied shut the door while trying to tie down the tree.

Then there’s the frozen pond they skated on – after which their young daughter slashed the backseat after carelessly throwing in the skates. There’s the old boarded up house the kids begged to explore, the children’s many fights in the backseat that caused the dad to threaten “to turn this car around” – and the teen daughter’s teary return trip to college.

Music and flashbacks add to the emotional punch. The soundtrack you hear throughout the journey is a song aptly titled, “To Build a Home” by Patrick Watson.

“There is a house built out of stone, Wooden floors, walls and window sills, Tables and chairs worn by all of the dust, This is a place where I don’t feel alone, This is a place where I feel at home,” are the opening lyrics.

And then the gut punch:

“‘Cause, I built a home, For you, For me, Until it disappeared, From me, From you, And now, it’s time to leave and turn to dust.”

Steve Majoros is Chevy’s Chief Marketing Officer. Reflecting on the spot, he said, “As a father of three adult boys, the holidays give us the opportunity to reconnect, and cherish the traditions that bring us together. This year, our focus was to invite people to remember life’s most special moments with family, with its ups and downs, and to find joy in the journey.”

Corporate America is often guilty of being culturally tone deaf, ignoring the wholesome heartbeat of the nuclear family – but not this time.

Chevy is trying to sell cars and trucks, of course, but they’re also selling the beauty of family, especially the thrills and chills of raising boys and girls. The advertisement reminds us of what we all intuitively know but sometimes realize all too late – that the years with children in the home are charming and challenging, but also poignant – and painfully brief.

It would be sobering and depressing if that were the end of the story, but that’s not how the Lord designed families – and even Chevy hints at that by having the empty nest couple arrive to meet up at the cabin with their now grown son and daughter-in-law – and young grandchild.

As we dive headlong into December and all its bustle and busyness leading up to Christmas, don’t forget to absorb and appreciate the blessings of your family, whatever the age and stage you find yourself.

Well done, Chevy.

Image credit: Chevolet