Forget the big-budget productions, this $200 Christmas ad will melt your heart

It has all the ingredients of a major Christmas advert — a young child, a catchy song and a heart-warming storyline.

And it has been going down a storm with hundreds of thousands of views online.

But this is no big-budget production as favoured by brands such as John Lewis, Sainsbury's, Cadbury and Amazon. Instead it is a Christmas video produced for less than £100 (NZ$201) by a family-run hardware store in Mid Wales, the Daily Mail reports.

The two-minute advert, which took only one day to film, features two-year-old Arthur Jones. It was made by his father Tom, whose family owns Hafod Hardware, and friend Josh Holdaway.

Arthur is shown busying himself around the shop and wrapping customers' Christmas gifts before farewelling them with a thumbs-up. Image / Hafod Hardware via YouTube

Their only expense was the music, a cover of Alphaville's 1984 hit Forever Young performed by American singer-songwriter Andrea von Kampen.

The video opens with Arthur waking and walking to the shop, which has been a landmark in the market town of Rhayader since 1895. He is greeted by his grandmother and dons an apron to start work. Arthur mends a broom, sweeps the floor, stocks shelves and serves customers — including his grandfather — badly wrapping their purchases and giving a thumbs-up.

The film ends with Arthur shutting up shop and bending to pick up a huge tree. As he does, he turns into his father and carries it off while the slogan 'Be a kid this Christmas' appears.

The heart-warming advertisement cost less than $200 to put together but has proved a hit with the public. Image / Hafod Hardware via YouTube

The video, posted on YouTube and Facebook on Sunday, has gone viral. Many say it is their favourite festive commercial of 2019.

Mr Jones, 30, said: "The comments we've had so far have been amazing.

"My son is such a bright boy and I would be lying if I said it was difficult to get him to perform on screen."

He asked Miss von Kampen to cover the theme song.

"Andrea recorded Forever Young in a studio and paid £100 for a sound engineer. I said we'd pay — so that's all the advert has cost us."

But there is an underlying message.

"We are just a small independent shop in Mid Wales trying to compete with the big boys. We've shown that it can be done on a very small budget."

This is the third consecutive year the small business has released its own Christmas ad, with von Kampen providing the vocals for all of them.

Hafod Hardware's 2018 Christmas ad

Hafod Hardware's 2017 Christmas ad

- additional reporting nzherald.co.nz