CUB has released a tearjerker Father’s Day ad for VB featuring the Parramatta Eels Fijian winger Maika Sivo and his dad Joeli.
Joeli had never seen his son plan in real life and didn’t even have a passport.
“My dad has worked hard all his life,” Sivo says. “I wanted to pay him back for all his sacrifices. He’s still working hard … Him and Mum are pretty proud of me. My dad watches every game on my uncle’s satellite TV. The neighbours don’t complain about the noise because they’re always there too.”
The video of Joeli’s surprise trip to Sydney for the Eels’ 20-14 win over the Knights at Bankwest Stadium earlier this month will be shown on Channel 9 before the Friday night match between Parramatta and the Broncos.
Watch it below:
“I am so thankful for this moment, my boy,” Joeli says. “My heart is so big it almost popped.”
If you need more feels, check out Great Northern’s Father’s Day ad.
Featuring ballet dancer Daniel Gaudiello, it encourages Australians to “do something with dad he won’t forget”.
In the three-minute video, Gaudiello and his dad Luigi heading off on a four-day camping and fishing trip in north Queensland.
Gaudiello had spent more than two decades away from his outback home as the principal at The Australian Ballet and also travelled the world dancing with prestigious companies such as the English National.
“I came back home as much as I could, but not enough, and I knew there were things I was missing,” Gaudiello told news.com.au.
His travel schedule meant he missed much of his father’s battle with stage-four lymphoma.
“I really regret the time that dad got sick,” Gaudiello said. “My career was really happening that year and my family kept downplaying things, saying that he was fine, he’d be OK.
“But in hindsight, I really regret choosing my career over family. It was special to talk about that with dad on the trip. It was very emotional. Family is everything and I felt such guilt.”
The pair jumped at the chance to share their father-son story for Great Northern.
“It was so great to do,” Guadiello said. “That they would want to portray a different type of family, a different type of guy, in me, maybe not being the typical Australian bloke, reconnecting with my dad, was great. I’ll remember this forever. I think dad will remember it forever too.”
