WICKLOW HOUSE LIGHTS UP ADVERT
A rural Co Wicklow home is playing a central role in one of the most heart-warming ads this Christmas.
The Lidl advert, which sees a family give a neglected, rundown house a festive makeover in order to welcome its former resident back, was filmed at Glenmacnass near Laragh.
The house is situated in the Glenmacnass and, with the beautiful Glenmacnass waterfall almost in the back garden, is a truly picturesque spot.
In the ad, the family can be seen arriving at the house, which has no electrictiy, and quickly setting about cleaning up, erecting a Christmas tree and putting a delicious meal together. The camera then switches to an elderly gentleman looking at an old black and white photograph of a young couple outside the same house many years earlier.
Now travelling in a car and clearly unaware what’s happening, the man asks what’s going on just as the family (with the help of a generator) lights up the whole house with festive lights. ‘Grandad!’ one of the children shouts as he comes in the door to a huge welcome.
‘For this particular commercial, the aesthetics of the house were really important as the story centres around the family bringing the house back to life following a period of isolation,’ said a spokesperson for Lidl. ‘So we needed a property that we could “dress” so as to show it in the isolated and boarded up state and then show it transformed.
‘We think the location chosen perfectly captures the moment and we are overwhelmed with the positive feedback regarding the campaign.’
Wicklow town is gracing our screens again this festive season thanks to its starring role in the Dunnes Stores Christmas advert.
Filmed two years ago, it shows a father strolling through a snow flurry past Fitzwilliam Square and Halpins Cafe to make it home to his family in Leitrim Place.