A heartbreaking Polish advert has gone viral and looks set to be the iconic Christmas commercial of 2016, sweeping aside the likes of John Lewis and UK supermarket retailers.

The three-minute film depicts an elderly man teaching himself English with the help of an audio guide and several post-it notes fixed to objects around his house and even his terrier.

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He mimics a scene from a gangster films and practises his diction in the bath before boarding a plane to England. Upon arrival, he steps into a snow covered black cab and is taken to a festively decorated suburban house. Only then do we discover the purpose of his journey and his efforts to learn English... but rather than spoil the beautiful moment we recommend you take a look for yourself.

The advert will be particularly intimate for Polish audiences. Around 500,000 Poles have emigrated to the EU in the last decade, most of them working age. This has left a generation of elderly people an aeroplane trip away from their grandchildren. In the wake of the Britain's vote to leave the EU, Polish families experienced a significant rise in racial abuse and violence.

The yuletide offering is reported to have had over 7m views in ten days and social media has gone wild for the it – people cannot hold back their emotions:

Check out more heartbreaking Christmas adverts at IBTimes UK.