German Supermarket's Christmas ad brings millions to tears

German supermarket Edeka has released the ultimate weepy Christmas ad about a lonely old man whose family never comes home for the annual holiday.

In the heart-warming ad, which has been viewed more than 23 million times in the past five days, the man’s busy children are fooled into coming home by a morbid trick.

When the guilt-ridden children finally arrive from all over world they get a surprise which has no doubt left millions of viewers in tears.

Loneliness among the elderly appears to be a common theme is this year’s Christmas commercials, with British department store John Lewis also dealing with the same issue in its ad.

The John Lewis ad features a girl on Earth who looks through her telescope and sees an elderly man emerging from a shack on the moon.