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Things We Saw Today: Taika Waititi Directed a Holiday Coke Commercial to Make Us Cry

ByRachel Leishman Nov 11th, 2020, 5:40 pm

Taika Waititi arrives at the AT&T Hello Lab Mentorship Program event at LACMA on November 1, 2018 in Los Angeles, California.

As we get in the holiday mood, let’s take a trip down memory lane. For as long as I can remember, I knew when it was Christmas because that commercial with the polar bears drinking Coca-Cola would always come on TV. This is the one that I remember so vividly because the little bear goes “WEEEEEEE” and runs into his parent, and they get to drink a nice refreshing Coke together.

Now though, the Christmas Coke commercials are a little different, probably because they realized that polar bears shouldn’t be drinking soda. This year though, Taika Waititi directed an epic of a commercial, and I just found myself sitting in my room crying after it?

It features a father who has to go and work out on a rig. Before he leaves, his daughter gives him a letter to give to Santa, and when he misses the mail drop, he decides to embark on a journey to make sure that Santa gets his daughter’s wish.

Did I expect to openly sob when the father opened the letter to realize his daughter just wanted him to come home safely? No, and yet here I am! But that’s the joy of a perfect Christmas advert, right? You just start randomly crying for no reason, and you can’t figure out why that’s so emotional for you.

虽然它适合那些圣诞哭泣,does show a different said of Waititi. But then, hedoeshave the ability to capture us with an epic story and then make us cry unexpectedly. I’m still thinking about the shoes inJojo Rabbitand basically all ofHunt for the Wilderpeople.

So, thank you to Taika Waititi for continuing to be one of my favorite filmmakers, even if this Christmas advert did make me cry in the beginning of November.

(viaEmpire, image: Kevin Winter/Getty Images)

Here are some other things we saw out there today:

  • Jason Momoa opens up about life afterGame of Thronesand how he struggled. (viaEntertainment Weekly)

  • Trevor Noah asks Republicans backing Donald Trump’s baseless claim if it’s worth it. (viaThe Guardian)
  • Joe Biden plans to reopen America to refugees. (viaNPR)
  • What happened to Quawan Charles? (viaThe Root)

Anything we missed out there, Mary Suevians? Let us know what you saw!

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Rachel Leishman - Assistant Editor

Rachel (she/her) is an I, Tonya stan who used to have a poster of Frank Sinatra on her wall as a kid. She loves superheroes, weird musicals, wants Robert Downey Jr. to release a new album, and would sell her soul for Pedro Pascal as Kraven the Hunter. She is Leslie Knope and she's okay with that. Secretly Grogu's mom and Lizzie Olsen's best friend.