Pearle Vision's Tale About a Boy With Big Glasses Tugs Heavily on Your Heartstrings

Energy BBDO is bringing an unexpectedly emotional approach to a typically boring category in a new spot for Pearle Vision.

The brand's new film features a heart-warming yet cryptic tale about a young boy named Ben who has a special connection to his late grandfather.The spot begins on a somber note, as we see the boy suited up in black in the back of his family car, apparently returning from a funeral. We see him put on a pair of specs, looking sadly out the window. As he walks back up into his home, he fumbles up the steps, and in the following days, other signs show that something's just not right about his glasses. They fall off his face during karate class, Ben can't match up the zipper on his sweatshirt properly and he can't seem to make out where the door on his school bus is.

Ben's parents take him to the local Pearle Vision for an eye check-up, but when he shows the optometrist a picture of him and his Gramps, she discovers the real problem and solves it with a quick, unlikely fix.

The ad represents a fresh direction for the category, using heart-tugging storytelling to highlight the caring, customer-service side of the retailer rather than its wares. Energy BBDO has had a nice run delivering emotional tales for unexpected sectors, as in its love stories for Kerrygold and Wrigley.

It seems specs retailer advertising is having a moment. Along with this ad, we recently saw more standout, laugh-out-loud work from the U.K.'s Specsavers in this new spot featuring a plumber with faulty vision. Earlier, Lenscrafters used immersive video to put the viewer into the shoes of a child with vision problems.