(Article by Samantha Chang republished from WesternJournal.com)
The 60-second commercial spot called “Mrs. Hayes” opens with an elderly widow struggling to start her 1957 Chevy Bel Air Nomad in a parking lot.
“Come on, old beauty,” she says while turning her keys in the ignition.
As she looks in her rearview mirror, a flood of memories washes over Mrs. Hayes as she’s transported back in time.
One flashback shows Mrs. Hayes dropping off her husband in the Chevy. Mr. Hayes, who’s dressed in a military uniform, is going off to fight in the Vietnam War.
In another flashback, a somber Mrs. Hayes is seen driving back home with a box containing a folded American flag and the belongings of her husband, who died in the war.
Other scenes show the widow — who never remarried — becoming a maternal figure to the neighborhood children, including a boy named Billy.
Years later, Billy’s pregnant wife knocks on Mrs. Hayes’ door in a panic as she goes into labor. Mrs. Hayes drives Billy’s wife to the hospital in her ’57 Chevy.
It then flashes forward to the present, and Mrs. Hayes’ daydreaming is interrupted by a light knocking on her car window.
It’s Billy, who offers to drive the widow back home in his 2024 red electric Chevy Blazer SUV.
In the last scene, Mrs. Hayes is alone in her living room as she decorates her house for Christmas.
There’s a knock at her front door, and when she opens it, Billy’s daughter jumps into her arms to give her a big hug.
The widow is seen wiping away tears of joy as Billy and his family visit her for Christmas.
“Merry Christmas, Mrs. Hayes,” Billy says as the longtime neighbors exchange a warm holiday hug.
A longer version of the ad, which debuted shortly before Thanksgiving, was barraged with praise on Chevy’s YouTube page.
“Never had a commercial make me cry like a baby,” one viewer wrote.
Another chimed in: “Such a beautiful commercial, 10/10 I love it.”
Steve Majoros, the vice president of marketing for Chevrolet, said the commercial was a way to send a “holiday card to America” instead of merely flooding the airwaves with seasonal sales ads.
“Nearly everyone has a Chevrolet story, and we feel fortunate to have genuine connections with so many,” Majoros said in a statement, according to The Drum. “We call this our holiday card to America.”
This is the second Christmas season in a row that Chevy has spotlighted conservative values instead of pushing woke, left-wing propaganda, as many corporations do nowadays.
Majoros said this year’s ad was inspired by last year’s viral Chevy commercial.
“Last year, the holiday commercial resonated so deeply with viewers, so the decision to create another spot that was rooted in nostalgia and community was an easy one,” he said, according to The Drum. “We hope viewers love the story as much as we do.”
Last year’s Chevy Christmas ad, “Holiday Ride,” went viral and was widely applauded on social media, with numerous viewers saying it brought them to tears.
As crushing inflation, terrifying crime spikes and threats of another world war loom over this holiday season, it’s important to remember that the United States has overcome far greater challenges than the ones it’s currently grappling with.
However, we need to keep fighting for what makes America great.
As former President Ronald Reagan said: “Freedom is a fragile thing and it’s never more than one generation away from extinction. It is not ours by way of inheritance; it must be fought for and defended constantly by each generation.”
Read more at: WesternJournal.com