CHRISTMAS is around the corner and while Powys residents young and old are preparing to post their letters off to the North Pole, there is one sought-after gift that Santa sadly won’t be bringing us this year – the heart-warming Hafod Hardware Christmas advert.
The popular Rhayader hardware shop has for the last few years bestowed its own gift on Powys residents in the form of a festive advert to rival the renowned John Lewis and M&S efforts.
They have captured the hearts of millions across the UK, not just Powys. The only difference being that while the UK retail giants spend a small fortune on promoting themselves, the family-run Elan Valley store has produced tear-jerking videos that return the focus of the festive season to simple joys like being with family, giving and community; things that Christmas is really all about.
And they’ve done so on a shoestring budget of less than a tenner – with 2017’s first festive offering made for just £6.99!
This year, however, the Hafod team have taken the “tough decision” to hang up their hats.
“Over the last four years we’ve had the absolute pleasure of making our Christmas adverts for you all to enjoy,” said the family on the East Street shop’s Facebook page.
“With the help from friends and family, we have been able to create something that we are very proud of and something that we can look back on for years to come.
“Now, with the season of new Christmas adverts being thrust upon us, we want to let you know that we won’t be making one this year.
“This was a very tough decision but for many reasons we feel now is the time for us to hang up our hats, sit back and enjoy what the others have to offer.
“We can’t thank you enough for all the support and kind words we received through the publicity of our adverts. A massive thank you must also go to Josh Holdaway and Andrea von Kampen who have been on this journey with us from the start.”
The shop – one of the oldest in Rhayader and run by Tom Jones, along with his grandparents Pauline and Alun Lewis – shot to stardom four Christmases ago with their magical first advert which has helped to put them and Rhayader on the map.
In it, frantic Tom rushes around Rhayader and the Elan Valley on Christmas Eve, busily delivering presents on his motorbike, carrying a bulging red sack, with Bing Crosby's 1943 hit 'I'll Be Home for Christmas' being sung in the background by young American singer-songwriter Von Kampen. An exhausted Tom finally arrives home and falls asleep, forgetting to wrap his own presents, only to wake up on Christmas morning with the task handled. The advert ends with him opening gifts with his infant son, Arthur.
Tom and hugely talented film-maker friend Josh Holdaway shot, edited and published the two-minute masterpiece all in a day – with the only cost the £6.99 red sack.
A year later, Tom took two weeks to shoot the second video, in which he builds a miniature version of the shop to use as a Christmas display in the front window.
It was 2019 when the video really became a phenomenon, with a two-year-old Arthur stealing the show. The video begins with Arthur getting out of bed and brushing his teeth before donning his apron and carrying out a day's work at the store. He sweeps floors, polishes the counter, stocks the shelves and flashes a beaming smile and a big thumbs up as he deals with customers throughout the day.
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The commercial – featuring four generations of Tom's family – ends with Arthur shutting up shop before carrying home a Christmas tree. The advert was viewed more than four million times on social media, has 2.7 million YouTube views and was put together for under £100.
Last year, meanwhile, Tom and Co changed tactic to reflect the more sombre mood that ushered in Christmas 2020 – amid the backdrop of Covid-19 and with families and friends across the globe deterred from meeting in mass numbers, with the UK gripped by lockdown.
In it, Arthur runs around the house pinching items like eggs, milk and toilet paper – leaving mum Laura and dad Tom perplexed – before wrapping all the items up in a box and placing them under the tree.
After a devastating year in which many small Welsh and UK businesses had been deeply affected by the pandemic, Hafod Hardware changed the focus of their advert to highlight kindness with the slogan 'Give What You Can'.
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