Macaulay Culkin Is Not Home Alone This Christmas, Thanks to Google… And Richmond

by | Dec 24, 2018 | WTF?!

Macaulay Culkin is having a year. He’s having a weird year, but it’s been successful nonetheless, as he enjoys being back on track and somewhat in the public eye. Now thanks to a Google Home ad campaign, he’s closing out the year in the best Christmas commercial of this holiday season.

The advertisement immediately went viral, and became the number one search on YouTube. The ad revisits modern Christmas icon Kevin McCallister (played by Culkin) from the Home Alone film franchise, once again waking up to find himself home alone and ready for hijinks to ensue. It’s just McCallister and his trusty Google Home on Christmas, revisiting previous plot moments from the original film — ordering pizza, jumping on the bed, even setting up the infamous booby trap for the Wet Bandits.

McAllister found some unlikely additional allies here in Richmond, VA — a far cry from his hometown of Chicago. This incredibly successful ad campaign was put together by local ad agency Arts and Letters Creative Co., located in Scott’s Addition. According to the team, they were more than happy to help.

“This was an amazing thing to dream up and make for our friends at Google,” the agency said in a Facebook post. “So excited that the world gets to see Kevin McCallister again!”

The ad is equal parts fun, nostalgic, and so very, very weird — which appears to be Culkin’s aesthetic these days, and it seems to be working for him. This was such a perfect way to end the year, and hopefully heralds an even better 2019 for Culkin.

Merry Christmas, everyone — and don’t forget to keep the change, ya filthy animal.

Ash Griffith

Ash Griffith

Ash is a writer and improviser from Richmond. She has a BA in English from VCU and an associates in Theater. When she isn't writing or screaming on a stage, she can usually be found wherever the coffee is. Bill Murray is her favorite person along with her black cat, Bruce.




more in community

Richmonders Don’t Know How Many ICE Flights Are Happening

Protestors gathered on Saturday morning outside the Richmond International Airport to oppose and call attention to the airport's role in ICE detainee transfers and deportation flights. Immigration enforcement flights out of Richmond have increased sharply...

A First Look at the New Brown’s Island

Brown's Island has been closed since November 2025 for a $30 million improvement project, the largest renovation of the six-acre island in decades. It will temporarily reopen for the Richmond Folk Festival, October 9 - 11th, giving Richmonders their first chance to...

Richmond Loves Dolly Parton

I was gonna kill my husband in a cab in Peru, but “Islands in the Stream” came on the radio, and we stopped arguing and started singing. She could do that to you. You could totally be feeling some type of way, but if you put some Dolly Parton on, well, then you got a...

Read the Virginia Pride 2026 Pride Guide 🏳️‍🌈

For more than a decade, RVA Magazine has worked with Virginia Pride to produce the Official VA PrideFest Guide, bringing together stories from Richmond’s LGBTQ+ community and everything you need to know for PrideFest this Saturday, September 12,...