Every Christmas roughly 37 million Spaniards try their luck at winning El Gordo (the Fat One in English), Spain’s emblematic Christmas lottery prize.

The draw is a national institution and the run up to every December 22^nd is spearheaded by a multimillion euro TV commercial which builds up the anticipation in every Spanish household.

This year however, Spaniards are somewhat let down if not baffled by what lottery organizers have come up with.

The TV commercial features five of Spain’s most recognizable singers – Montserrat Caballé, Raphael, Marta Sánchez, Niña Pastori and David Bustamante – in a Christmas setting which is so idyllic it’s cringe-worthy.

Their smiles are too big, their eyes are too wide-open and the choice of song is so kitschy it’s enough to put Spaniards off Christmas all together.

The public's response has been similar to that seen with Madrid mayor Ana Botella’s “relaxing cup of café con leche” comment – parody the life out of it!

Countless send-ups are popping up on YouTube, most of which have transformed the hyperreal original into highly suitable horror clips.

We leave you with the original ad, and to stop you from reaching out for the nearest sharp object, a much more amusing parody which has had more than 1.3 million views in just five days.

Which one’s the real stuff of nightmares?

Before you do anything stupid…