AD's favourite Christmas ads
Love them or loathe them, Christmas adverts are an essential part of the holiday season. They set the mood and get us in the Christmas spirit whilst also reminding us to do that Christmas shopping we’ve been putting off for weeks…
We’ve asked the AD team to vote for their favourite 2021 Christmas ads and tell us what they liked or didn’t like about each.
6) Barbour | Please look after this bear
The advert follows Paddington in his original illustration style as he prepares Christmas gifts for his family. Barbour are celebrating 100 years of their rewaxing service and decided to make this a feature in the advert. It was nostalgic, humorous and sentimental, everything we love in a Christmas advert.
5) John Lewis | Unexpected Guest
John Lewis are known for their Christmas campaigns. Past favourites include their 2013 animation The Bear and the Hare or the classic 2015 Man on the moon, which never fails to make viewers tear up. However, this year the retailer opted for a more unusual video. It features a young boy teaching an alien girl whose ship has crash landed on earth, about the meaning of Christmas. It has a heartwarming message and encourages us to celebrate our differences and help one another.
4) Disney | The Stepdad
Disney is celebrating family in this year’s advert. The stepdad is an animated short that shows a new stepfather moving in with the family during the holiday season. It’s filled with tear jerking moments as stepdad Mike tries to find his place in the new family.
The ad was released as part of Disney’s ‘From Our Family to Yours’ campaign which supports the Make-A-Wish foundation. We love adverts which play on a business’ core values and display their vision and this was a perfect example of Disney showcasing their magic.
3) McDonald's UK | Imaginary Iggy
McDonald’s brings us all back to our childhood in their latest advert. It follows a young girl and her imaginary friend, Iggy. Iggy is brought to life thanks to the young girl’s imagination. But, as the girl grows older, Iggy is left behind and becomes a distant memory – until she is reminded of him during a trip to McDonalds.
The soundtrack, brilliant animation and storytelling make this a heartwarming video. It can be difficult to feel the same about Christmas as we grow older but McDonalds brings the excitement back into the holiday with this sentimental video.
McDonalds will be donating 10p from every download of the song used in the advert, to food charity Fareshare, who provide meals to families in need. This Christmas, more families need help than ever before, and McDonalds are using their power to give back to the community.
2) Aldi | A Christmas Carrot
ALDI'S festive character Kevin the Carrot is back in this year's Christmas advert. The ad follows Kevin in A Christmas carol retelling. Kevin helps Ebanana Scrooge to understand the meaning of Christmas and the joy behind the celebration.
The ad even features England football player Marcus Rashford, who is known for his charity work to help end child food poverty in England. Together, Aldi and Rashford have teamed up to donate 1.8million meals to families in need this Christmas.
“These donations will help a record number of families across the UK during what is expected to be the busiest year on record for local charities and causes.”
1) Amazon Prime Video | An unlikely friendship
Our favourite pick for this year involves a smiling hyena and his best friend/rescuer. When a zookeeper begins to watch Prime Video shows beside the hyena enclosure on his lunch break, he forms an unlikely friendship with a hyena who watches with him. After the hyena is bullied by her pack, the zookeeper sneaks her home to stay with him. Together, they visit Santa, go out to dinner, and take walks (much to the dismay of the man’s neighbours).
This is a heartwarming story about friendship and finding happiness in unlikely places. It’s also Prime’s first solo ad from the Amazon brand. It showcases Prime’s products in a natural and meaningful way which some companies can fall flat on.
“For our first Christmas advert for Prime Video here in Europe, we wanted to show that great TV shows and movies bring people and, occasionally, animals together.”
Did you agree with our list? Check out our rankings of the best 2021 digital campaigns for more like this. If you need help with your digital strategy get in touch or follow us onTwitter and LinkedIn for more industry news and updates.