2025 Christmas Ad Tracker Report
SUPERMARKETS TAKE A BACK SEAT AS NOSTALGIA STEALS CHRISTMAS 2025
Twas the season of stories, familiar and bright,
When brands rolled out ads to spread Christmas delight.
Out to 8,000 UK adults, insights were formed,
Using AdVantage to measure how the Christmas ads performed.
With emotions, persuasion, and standout in view,
We unwrapped which campaigns made Christmas feel new…
…or rather, comfortingly old.
Christmas 2025: A Year of Reruns, Returnees and a Revival of Nostalgia
If last year was about generosity and sparkle, 2025 has taken a different turn.
This was the year brands said: “don’t fix what isn’t broken.”
From Amazon reviving its beloved “old lady on the bench” story (originally aired in 2023) to Coca-Cola re-running its AI-powered “Holidays Are Coming” remix, and Sainsbury’s bringing back the BFG for another outing, Christmas creativity leaned hard into emotional déjà vu.
And it worked.
Comfort scores were high across the top performers and nostalgia proved itself the most powerful creative device of the season.
Overall score: 8.5 out of 10 – the highest of any brand
Amazon takes the Christmas crown this year with its decision to re-air one of its most emotionally resonant ads.
The familiar tale of the older woman embracing the festive moment once again hit exactly the right note for audiences. It scored high in enjoyment (7.3), strong brand linkage (8.3), and the highest persuasion scores of the year (9.3).
And it wasn’t just nostalgia driving Amazon’s success. The ad also scored highly in:
- Second for music
- Joint third for humour
- Second to Cadbury for social shareability
- Making views feel Happier than almost all other ads (52% happiness)
Amazon proved that emotional consistency, not always reinvention, can win Christmas.
Chocolate Sells Itself: Simple Branding Wins at Christmas
Lindt Lindor Overall score: 8.1 out of 10 – second place
Lindt Lindor delivered one of the simplest ads of the season and one of the most effective. Proving there is more than one way to cut through at Xmas
No elaborate storyline. No characters. No elaborate fantasy.
Just luxurious chocolate, beautiful visuals, and branding so strong it does the heavy lifting.
It achieved:
- Exceptionally high brand linkage (9.1)
- Very strong persuasion (8.9)
- A clear emotional signal with 36% love (average 23%) and 52% (average 40%) happiness
People want chocolate at Christmas and Lindt simply reminded them.
Cadbury reinforces this point. Their Secret Santa ad, a repeat of a previous campaign, scored 7.7 out of 10 overall, ranking third. It scored very high for enjoyment (7.6) and as a result drove strong persuasion to buy (8.3).
The success of both Lindt and Cadbury shows that nostalgia and category alignment can be just as powerful as complex storytelling. People respond to what they already know and love at Christmas, especially chocolate.
Adding Coca-Cola into the narrative
Coca-Cola Overall score: 7.6 out of 10 – fourth place
If any brand owns Christmas nostalgia, it’s Coca-Cola and this year marked the 30th anniversary of “Holidays Are Coming.”
To celebrate, Coca-Cola gave its iconic world a subtle AI refresh (for the second year running), but crucially kept everything audiences cherish: the trucks, the music, the warm festive glow.
It was a modern twist on a cultural classic, and the formula worked. Coca-Cola delivered the strongest brand linkage of the year (9.3), one of the most enjoyed soundtracks, and the highest happiness score (59%) across all ads.
Sainsbury’s BFG comeback performs better than other character giants
Overall score: 7.1 out of 10 – a strong, emotionally warm performance
Sainsbury’s revived its BFG-led creative for another year.
The BFG landed strongly on emotional connection, scoring 54% likeable and 53% friendly, and the ad delivered a solid 30% comfort. Crucially, it also improved on several key measures compared with last year’s version:
• Purchase persuasion increased from 7.1 to 7.7
• Enjoyment rose from 5.7 to 6.6
• Happiness almost doubled from 30% to 50%
It even outperformed Aldi’s Kevin the Carrot, who slipped to the middle of the pack this year. And that raises the question…
Has Kevin the Carrot finally passed his prime?
Aldi scored overall 5.0 out of 10, bang on our database average. Kevin still delivered the highest amusement score of all ads (48%), but the comedy doesn’t translate into brand strength.
Kevin was only seen as funny by 39%, and his brand linkage sat an average (7.3), suggesting the character’s charm now works independently of the brand, rather than elevating it.
Supermarkets lose their usual dominance in the festive rankings
Traditionally, supermarkets flood the top 10.
But not this year.
Only Lidl (7.3) and Sainsbury’s (7.1) broke into the top tier, while others dropped significantly:
• Morrisons – 6.3
• Asda – 5.2
• Waitrose – 5.1
• Aldi – 5.0
• Tesco – 4.9
• M&S – 4.8
Why did supermarkets struggle? This year showed that there’s a fine balance between bringing characters back and letting them carry the story. Some brands got the balance right, others didn’t.
M&S returned with Dawn French, and while she scored well individually (45% likeable, 41% friendly, 44% funny), the ad itself didn’t land emotionally – enjoyment at 5.0, happiness at 33%, and brand linkage at 7.6. The Christmas Fairy was familiar, but the creative didn’t connect.
Asda’s Grinch drew attention but not affection. With an overall score of 5.2 and 22% finding him annoying, enjoyment remained low (5.1). The character was recognisable, but recognition alone wasn’t enough to deliver warmth.
By contrast, Heathrow showed how to make returning characters work. The bears, used in previous years too, led the story without a single spoken word. Combined with strong music and unmistakably festive visuals, the ad delivered:
• 60% likeable, 57% friendly
• Best music score of all ads
• High happiness (51%)
• Strong enjoyment (7.3)
Heathrow demonstrated that when characters, music, and simple storytelling align, the result can outperform even the supermarket heavyweights.
Nostalgia and emotional warmth are dominating festive advertising
Audiences responded most to ads that revisited beloved stories, familiar characters, and category favourites. From Amazon’s returning classic to Lindt and Cadbury’s chocolate reminders, Coca-Cola’s iconic trucks, and Heathrow’s teddy bears. Simple, heartwarming storytelling that leans on what people already love consistently outperformed novelty and purely humorous campaigns, showing that repetition with feeling, rather than reinvention, is the real festive magic this year.
