Heartwarming Norwegian Ad Goes Global With Over 114 Million Views

Sometimes the simplest stories hold the most power – and take the internet by storm. “The Lunchbox,” Kitchen Leo Burnett’s new spot for The Norwegian Directorate for Children, Youth and Family Affairs (Bufdir), has garnered more than 114 million Facebook views since its release, increasing at some points by 1 million views per hour. With no words spoken and a storyline that crosses cultural divides, this Norwegian ad is now spreading globally.

 

Aimed at recruiting more Norwegian foster homes by showing the power of a child’s community, the heartwarming ad portrays a young boy during his classroom’s lunch hour: a seemingly harmless setting until he opens his lunchbox to reveal it’s empty. Looking for an escape, he kills time wandering the halls, eventually wandering back to his classroom and empty lunchbox – or so he believes. Opening it again, he finds it now full with food, his classmates having contributed small portions of their own lunches to complete his.