Irish supermarket's viral new Christmas ad will leave you 'in a flood of tears'

Tis the season to need tissues when watching ads - and this one will leave you looking like you've just chopped a bunch of onions.

A supermarket chain in Ireland has released its Christmas ad for 2020 and viewers have been left "bawling" over the emotional ad.

The SuperValu ad, which has gone viral since its release on Thursday, features a young boy who repeatedly asks his parents if "he" is definitely coming this year, while the family prepares for Christmas.

In the minute-long clip that has captured the world, the boy hears the radio report on the latest Covid-19 restrictions, and worries that "he" might not be able to come this year.

The "he" everyone assumes is santa - but there is an emotional twist at the end, which has left viewers in tears.

Watch it for yourself below before jumping to the next paragraph, which would otherwise spoil the ending for you.

It turns out the boy was not worried about Santa coming - but about being able to see his granddad for Christmas.

The ad went viral all over the world in a matter of hours, with thousands of people relating to that same feeling of not being able to be with family this Christmas.

"Here in Poland I showed it to my partner while both working from home today, she cried. Later she went upstairs to show her Mother, they both cried. She then went to the top floor to show her sister, they both cried. That's 3 times she's cried watching the same ad, well done," one person commented.

"Ah Jesus lads, that got me. Christmas was always my grandparent arriving before I went in to see if Santa had arrived. Well played, lovely ad. I hope this tweet makes sense because the phone screen looks all blurry," another Twitter user said, adding a number of crying emojis.

"I'm in a flood of tears," another person said.

"Oh dear, the kicker at the end makes you realise how much Covid has actually affected you, even if you thought it hadn't," someone else added.

Young actor hasn't seen grandparents 'in a long time'

In yet another detail that shows just how deeply personal the ad is for everyone, it has been revealed that the actor who plays the young boy, Cian Kearney, has not been able to see his grandparents in quite a while either.

"I haven't seen my nana and grandad in a long time," he told 96FM's Opinion Line in Ireland.

"Seeing them at Christmas is probably going to be the most important thing, I really want to see them," he added.

This article was first published on the NZ Herald and is republished here with permission.