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CHRISTMAS

Watch the adorable Italian Christmas advert made by Harry Potter director

Love it or hate it, the battle to produce the most heartwarming festive ad has become one of the surest signs that Christmas is on its way.

Watch the adorable Italian Christmas advert made by Harry Potter director
Letters arrive at Santa's house in the North Pole. Picture: Screengrab/YouTube

And Italian supermarket Esselunga's offering is sure to get you in the holiday mood. In just three days, it racked up a million views online.

The scene is the North Pole, as letters addressed to Father Christmas rain down. Elves catch the letters with butterfly nets, and Santa – surrounded by piles of the holiday wish lists – chuckles at some of the stranger requests.

The commercial is set to the 1953 song I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas. At the time, the song became so popular that a local zoo launched a campaign to present the singer, 10-year-old Gayla Peevey, with an actual hippo on Christmas day.

In the advert, elves gather up the presents, but instead of going in the traditional sleigh, they load up an Esselunga truck with the gifts – including one pink hippo.

Esselunga is promoting its Christmas lottery: Throughout December, up until Christmas Eve, every €30 spent at one of the chain's stores will earn shoppers a special scratchcard, with prizes including 1000 iPhone 7's each day, as well as bottles of Prosecco and gift vouchers. The prizes on offer are worth a huge €21 million in total.

The magical quality of the advert should be no surprise – it was directed by Chris Columbus, the man behind the early Harry Potter films, Mrs Doubtfire and Christmassy classic Home Alone.

It was filmed at London's Pinewood Studios, where cinematic classics including Harry Potter and James Bond films have been made.

 

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