Cork star of SuperValu Christmas advert hasn't seen his grandparents 'in a long time'

After eight-year-old Cork boy Cian Kearney's character was seen in the popular advert running to hug his grandad after a long separation due to Covid-19 restrictions, the young Douglas actor revealed that he hasn’t seen his own grandparents since before the current Level 5 restrictions were put into place, making the scene all the more poignant.

“I haven’t seen my nana and grandad in a long time,” he told 96FM’s Opinion Line. 

Seeing them at Christmas is probably going to be the most important thing, I really want to see them.

The popularity of the advert has seen Cian get much attention from his family and his peers.

“My grandad wants an autograph,” Cian said, adding that his classmates didn’t believe him when he told them he would be in an advert on television. “At first they just didn’t believe me. Now every one of them is talking about it so I’m happy.” 

The advert's art director, Paul Arthurs, and copywriter, Martin Corcoran, agree he is a very skilled young actor and they both expect to see great things from him in the future.

"Some super talented kids came forward when we were casting for the role, but Cian stood out early in the process demonstrating both sensitivity and joy," they told the Irish Examiner.

"He just seemed to grasp the right tone and range of expressions we needed for the script. And he was a dream to work with on set, really listening to our director and trying lines in different ways – he even had some suggestions of his own! We wouldn’t be one bit surprised to see Cian on the big screens again soon and maybe even on a few red carpets. He’s definitely a star in the making."

It’s not his family’s first foray into acting. His dad, Ger, starred in The War of the Buttons as a child, and Ger said he was originally approached about the role of the dad in SuperValu’s advert before attention turned to his son’s acting skills.

“A casting agent who I occasionally auditioned for contacted me,” Ger said. “They got less interested in me and more interested in Cian — I’m getting an awful slagging from my brothers that I’m not convincing as his dad.” 

Ger said the family is thrilled by the reaction to Cian’s starring role, with people at home and abroad being impressed by the boy’s acting. “Someone told me it’s very big in Saudi Arabia and France, it’s snowballing,” Ger said.

Yvonne Caplice of TBWA Dublin, the creative agency behind the advert, says the reaction has been even better than they expected.

"It's been a whirlwind few days since the ad launched — the response has been phenomenal," she said. 

"Whilst we did expect a positive reaction and a few tears, it's gone way beyond our expectations. It's being shared all over the world and the universal response seems to be crying emojis and love hearts! It's fantastic to see our work for an Irish brand like SuperValu strike a chord both at home and abroad, everyone in the agency is really proud."

With messages focusing on kindness, hope and the importance of family, this year’s Christmas advertising campaigns are sure to evoke a more intense outpouring of feelings from viewers than in previous years.

Paul and Martin said they were careful with SuperValu's offering, wanting to portray a sense of hope but also stay true to the current climate.

"We knew from the research that there was a sense of concern among the Irish public about what Christmas 2020 had in store. But rather than shy away from it, we wanted to acknowledge this shared feeling of uncertainty and present it in a way that felt relatable and authentic," they said.

"By using the child’s point of view, we were able to contrast the tension of negativity with childhood wonder and anticipation. Getting that balance of tone just right was always top of mind when working on each element, from choice of director right down to composing the music."

Based on the public's reaction, they got it just right.