--- title: Love Is a Gift Short Film Is Going Viral description: The short film about the true meaning of Christmas for one man is going viral. canonical: https://time.com/5464491/love-is-a-gift-short-film/ author: Melissa Locker article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-11-27T17:30:17.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:56:12.101Z og:title: Viral Christmas Ad Reminds Everyone That 'Love Is a Gift' og:description: People are loving the short film about the meaning of Christmas for one man og:url: https://time.com/5464491/love-is-a-gift-short-film/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Viral Christmas Ad Reminds Everyone That 'Love Is a Gift' twitter:description: People are loving the short film about the meaning of Christmas for one man twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # This Christmas Ad Is Going Viral for Reminding Everyone That 'Love Is a Gift' by [Melissa Locker](https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker Nov 27, 2018 5:30 PM UTC by [Melissa Locker](https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker Nov 27, 2018 5:30 PM UTC Normally, the [Christmas](http://time.com/5463388/melania-trump-christmas-decorations-trees-memes/) advertising season is dominated by big budget ads designed by companies to tug at the heart strings and hopefully open the purse strings while they’re at it. But now we have the love is a gift short film. It’s something that British department store John Lewis has mastered ([this year’s ad starring Elton John](http://time.com/5455715/john-lewis-christmas-advert-2018/) is no exception) but they’re not the only Christmas advertising experts and this holiday season they have a little competition from videographer Phil Beastall. He made a short film in 2014, called “Love Is A Gift”, and the love is a gift ad [he shared on Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/philbeastallvideo/videos/500576467097377/) last week, inspired by John Lewis. “It’s a short film about a man counting down the days to [Christmas](http://time.com/5047224/best-christmas-movies/) so he can continue his yearly tradition sparked by a tragic moment from the past,” Beastall said in the love is a gift video description [Facebook description](https://www.facebook.com/philbeastallvideo/videos/500576467097377/). “I hope you enjoy it.” The very short film is a two-and-a-half minute tearjerker that covers love loss and everything in between. “I wanted people to watch it and although initially they might feel sad, I wanted them to reflect on it and perhaps turn to a loved one and give them a cuddle or say ‘I love you’ and reflect on life itself and appreciate just how lucky we are to be here,” Beastall [told Sky News.](https://news.sky.com/story/director-overwhelmed-by-response-to-emotional-christmas-film-made-for-just-50-11561146) All that for a production cost of a mere £50 ($64), per Sky News. The film is resonating – 9.3 million people have viewed it so far. Watch the love is a gift short film below. Love Is a Gift Short Film Is Going Viral ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5464491/love-is-a-gift-short-film/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5464491/love-is-a-gift-short-film/"},"headline":"This Christmas Ad Is Going Viral for Reminding Everyone That 'Love Is a Gift'","datePublished":"2018-11-27T17:30:17.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:56:12.101Z","description":"The short film about the true meaning of Christmas was made for a mere $50","url":"https://time.com/5464491/love-is-a-gift-short-film/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Advertising","christmas","Holidays 2018"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Melissa Locker","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5464491/love-is-a-gift-short-film/","name":"This Christmas Ad Is Going Viral for Reminding Everyone That 'Love Is a Gift'"}}]}] ```