Here at Your Marketing Team, we love Christmas. It’s a special time for family, good food, faith, and plenty of merriment. And since Christmas is almost upon us, what better way to get into the spirit than to watch some festive adverts? Continuing our annual tradition, I asked each member of the team which Christmas advert caught their eye, and why.
Waitrose: The Perfect Gift
Lisa’s Pick
Called “The Perfect Gift”, it’s a romantic comedy starring Keira Knightley and Joe Wilkinson. It begins with a “meet-cute” at a Waitrose cheese counter, and the ad goes on to follow their blossoming relationship, with them falling in love over a shared love of cheese. There is the usual “rom com” misunderstanding moment, but it ends with Wilkinson recreating Knightley’s grandmother’s turkey pie recipe as a romantic gesture that wins her over.
I adore this ad, partly because it shows how food brings people together, but mostly because I’m a total cheese addict, and the idea of finding love at a cheese counter is just too cute.
Laura T’s Pick
I really tried to find another ad that made me ‘feel’ like the Waitrose one… John Lewis was a close second, but Waitrose, in four short minutes, had me emotionally invested.
I laughed out loud, cried, and was left with that unique, warm Christmasy feeling that makes you appreciate the special people in your life. The storyline wasn’t anything particularly new or innovative, but the investment in stand-out performances by Joe Wilkinson and Keira Knightley was worth it.
LEGO: Hello! Is it play you’re looking for?
Sue’s Pick
A successful Christmas advert needs to show off the featured product in its best light, whilst tapping into the true spirit of Christmas.
Let’s face it, no parent wants to have the screen time battle on this special day, which is intended to be a social time to show love and reconnect with family. LEGO has captured this beautifully with a narrative most parents with teenagers can relate to, by centring the story around a 12-year-old boy who has taken to lying on his bed glued to his mobile phone, rather than playing with his LEGO figures or helping his little sister build her new LEGO cat. Brilliantly overlaid with a Lionel Richie remix of ‘Hello’, the playful little LEGO characters we’ve all come to love through the LEGO films contribute to the scene by chipping in with their comments and collective thoughts about how he might just be missing out on some good old-fashioned playtime fun. LEGO used the skills of 5 builders to creatively assemble this impressive scene together with over 97,000 LEGO bricks and 220 individual minifigures.
This advert resonates this year as my favourite because I have two teenage daughters who, just a few years ago, spent many hours creating houses, streets, shops, and even Christmas scenes out of their vast collection of LEGO bricks and minifigures. Their LEGO now just collects dust, tucked away in boxes in their bedroom. I would love to see it make an appearance this Christmas. I may just get the box out myself and have a play!
John Lewis: One for the Dads
Beccy’s pick
This was the first ad that popped up on my screen this year. The Insta algorithm decided that I really needed to see it at 7:30am on a Monday morning a few weeks ago… cue tears over my cup of tea with the girls laughing at my ridiculousness! I didn’t plan to choose one of the big brand ads, but this one certainly resonated.
Industry experts and analysts have suggested that the Saatchi & Saatchi advert has ‘responded to the crisis of masculinity’, tapping into themes explored by this year’s hit drama ‘Adolescence’, and ‘the challenges of navigating inter-generational male relationships.’ For me, the advert beautifully captures the subtle, shifting dynamics between a dad and son as they move from childhood into adulthood.
When the childhood magic of Christmas inevitably quietens as the kids grow older, it’s a reminder that those magical moments are still there to be found and cherished through thoughtful gifting, shared memories and time spent together.
Morrison’s: A Year in the Making
Katie’s pick
I enjoyed the Morrison’s Christmas advert this year – I like the fact that they chose to highlight the effort that people put in year-round to make sure everything is prepared for the Christmas season. The music choice and visuals are simple but effective, and overall, it feels jolly and festive.
Coca-Cola: The Holidays Are Coming
Steph’s pick
Last year, Coca-Cola decided to opt for an AI advert, and it went down like a lead balloon. The AI wasn’t effective enough, and customers were outraged by the use of AI in such an iconic advert. So, this year Coca Coca-Cola decided to give it another go, and I’m here for it.
The use of AI in this advert looks to me, for the most part, like what you would see in an animated film. Yes, it’s not using a real Santa Claus, but the animals look so cute. The part with the seals clapping especially made my heart melt. Coca-Cola inevitably will receive some backlash for using AI in their advert again, I can already hear comments of inauthenticity and that they’ve taken an easy route. But behind this advert is a whole team of AI experts and designers who have created a twist on a classic.
This is a new way of creating adverts and I fear we’re just getting started…
Barbour: Wallace & Gromit
Joel’s pick
Wallace & Gromit is fondly associated with my childhood, so this ad was always going to rank highly for me. Wallace’s latest invention, the ‘Gift-o-matic’, doesn’t quite work as intended, leading to a rather revealing incident where a Barbour scarf provides the perfect cover.
Barbour, a long-standing English luxury brand, has leaned into tradition by collaborating with the iconic and enduring clay duo. Like all my favourite adverts, it barely feels like an ad at all. It’s a well-crafted short story in true Wallace & Gromit style, with the right blend of quaint humour, charm, and nostalgia. It’s a shareable piece of festive entertainment that just so happens to feature some high-quality Barbour scarves.
Tesco: That’s What Makes it Christmas
Laurie’s pick
I remember a time around the 1990s when a Christmas advert was a 30 or 60 second video made purely for TV. Then came the era of longer-form videos, designed not just to sell Christmas food and gifts but also to become viral Internet sensations. Now Tesco has gone full circle with its compilation of shorts, which is rather clever if you consider we have become a bit more inpatient with how we consume media.
What I love about these ads is they take low key, festive bug bears such as families arguing over board games, the hassle of a work Secret Santa and the perils of leaving your wrapping to the last minute, and inject a little bit of comedy. Enough to force a small smile and make you reminisce about a similar memory with your own friends and family.
Tesco has shown that a good Christmas ad doesn’t always have to be heartfelt or feature a big celebrity. Sometimes simple and relative works best.
Laura A’s pick
The Tesco advert is my favourite this year because it made me chuckle and reminded me of all the funny, chaotic Christmas moments I have witnessed over the years and still do. Awkward conversations, visiting the neighbours when I was young, arguing with siblings, and fighting over board games.
The advert feels far more real than the perfect scenes most adverts show. It captures those messy little rituals at the centre of it all, making the season feel genuinely familiar and warm.
What do our favourite picks say about us? We love a good narrative – a short story wrapped in an imaginative bow. As with last year, brands that tap into our emotions best capture our attention. Take the Wilkinson-Knightley romance, the father-son relationship, or the struggle against screen time. Christmas ads are no longer just seasonal promotions; they’re creative, thought-provoking, and they’re something to talk about and share.