Break out the tissues, because when it comes to romantic, heart-warming commercials, no company has precipitated more happy tears than Extra Gum.
It all started in 2013 when Extra released "Origami," a one-minute tear-jerker about the sweet bond between a dad and his little daughter, as she matures into a young woman. That video earned 3.3 million views on YouTube, but Extra's next installment would be prove to be even more viral.
Released in 2015, "The Story of Sarah & Juan" follows the characters' romance from high school to adulthood. That two-minute video was seen by more than 18 million YouTubers.
Last week, Extra took it up another notch with a four-minute video called "A Second Chance" — a touching true story about a young widowed mom and a single dad who find true love.
What's common in all three videos is the use of Extra gum wrappers to help tell the story. In "Origami," the dad cleverly folds the wrappers into tiny swans that his daughter collects over time. In the other videos, the story line is told via illustrations drawn on the back of the wrappers. In "The Story of Sarah & Juan" and "A Second Chance" the illustration triggering the teary waterworks is that of a man on bended knee proposing to the love of his life.
"A Second Chance," which has been viewed more than 800,000 times in the past seven days, is the real story of California natives and childhood friends Jessica Langevin and Marcus Decredico. The couple had met back in kindergarten and stayed in touch over the years. When Langevin was 25 years old and eight months pregnant with her daughter, Zoe, her husband was killed while serving in Afghanistan.
"I didn't think love could be possible for me again," she says in the video.
Langevin eventually opened an in-home daycare and got a call from her old friend Decredico, who was divorced and looking to secure childcare placements for his two young daughters, Alyvia and Malory.
"I was so excited to hear from him and our connection sparked again," she told Huffington Post. "We just keep finding our way back to each other."
Langevin and Decredico reconnected and fell in love. They've now been together for five years.
The Huffington Post reported that a friend of Decredico had heard that Extra was looking for "real life love stories" to feature in its next video. Extra loved the couple's story and conspired with Decredico to map out the perfect surprise proposal.
Langevin was tricked into believing that she and the three girls were on a scavenger hunt at the picturesque Grizzly Peak in Berkeley, Calif. Their mission was to find dozens of pictures drawn on gum wrappers by Decredico and the couple's young daughters. The hand-drawn illustrations lead Langevin to Decredico, who is waiting with a marriage proposal and a diamond engagement ring.
"You're my best friend," Decredico says in the video. "I want nothing more than for you to marry me."
Langevin responds, "Yes, yes, a thousand times, yes!"
“I had no clue he was going to propose," Langevin told Huffington Post. "I honestly thought we were doing a travel documentary and that the scavenger hunt was for the kids. It felt like a fairy tale. For me, it’s all about the small moments in our daily lives, like the little love notes he leaves me around the house. It was amazing to see all of these moments together!”
If you love to cry happy tears, today's your lucky day. Below, we are featuring all three Extra commercials, starting with "Origami" and ending with "A Second Chance." The last two videos are masterful mixed with the music of Haley Reinhart.
"Origami"
"The Story of Sarah & Juan"
"A Second Chance"
Screen captures via YouTube.
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