5 great holiday ads that are actually worth watching

Ahhhh, the holidays. Depending on where you live in the world, that term could mean anything from the last few days of December to two full months at the end of the year. As a result, starting shortly after Halloween, brands begin to roll out a steady drip of advertising that aims to tap into the traditions, hype, and emotions that surround the days between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Eve.

What constitutes a great holiday ad is subjective. So let’s review the criteria for my personal lens of evaluation. First, a great holiday ad is still a great ad. You can’t just have a piece of random entertainment and slap your logo at the end. (A strategy otherwise known as “The Lazy Super Bowl.”) Second, whether it’s five minutes or 30 seconds, the story you tell must tie back to your brand in some way—what it does, what it sells, how it makes people feel and its role in people’s lives, or culture, in general. Third, it must also simultaneously take place during or inextricably involve some aspect of the holidays. It could be a tree, presents, a big family dinner, some very real sense of time and place that distinguishes it from being released in, say, April. And finally, once it delivers all that, is it actually worth our time?

My favorites so far this year have a few things in common. Most are what you’d consider “long-form,” beyond the typical 30- to 60-second time slot. At least three aim right for your cryballs, but hit in a way that isn’t overly manipulative, just solid emotional storytelling. Each also finds a way to tap into the comfort of the season without feeling particularly same-old, same-old. New twists on branded comfort food.

Okay, enough table setting. As we hit the halfway mark through the holiday season, here are my picks for Top 5 Holiday Ads (so far).

JD Sports, “The Family Portrait“

Last year, the major British sports retailer impressed us with a holiday ad that used its ubiquitous shopping bag to illustrate where the brand finds itself among British youth culture. This year, it strikes a similar chord—but here, we get a tribute to all the shapes, sizes, and styles of what constitutes family, as seen through the lens, once again, of British young people. While many brands trade in fantasy this time of year, JD Sports and agency Uncommon celebrate the magic IRL.

Apple, “Heartstrings“

We get a peek into the life of a dad with a hearing disability, as we see flashes of his teenage daughter’s life through his eyes and ears: muffled sounds and conversations while as she plays guitar, jokes around, and more. Then he pops in a pair of Airpods Pro 2 and their hearing-aid feature . . . and the audio fog is cleared to the tune of Crosby, Stills Nash & Young’s “Our House.”

Norwegian Postal Service, “The Reinfall”

I’m not sure if the Norwegian Postal Service has a reputation for timely delivery and impeccable service, but I do know it can deliver a fun and delightfully absurd holiday ad. This year, we get a doc-style look into the life and career of Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer—well, if he were a human-reindeer hybrid (à la Sweet Tooth) that goes The Full Lohan for his own celebrity downfall trajectory.

Disney, “The Boy & The Octopus”

Open your Disney+ app and one of the first things you’ll see on the menu, as of early November, is a new short directed by Taika Waititi. It’s an ad, but not for an amusement park, specific film, or TV show from the House of Mouse. With this four-minute short chronicling the unlikely friendship between a boy and an octopus, the brand is selling one thing and one thing only: magic.

It follows a familiar formula for cute holiday ads, but damn if it doesn’t work like a charm.

Chevrolet, “The Sanctuary”

For an iconic American brand, there is often a unique pocket to sit in when it comes to telling emotional stories. Here, Chevy and agency Anomaly fully exploit that with a generational tale that doesn’t feel overly sappy but will definitely get some tough guys choked up.

It all starts at what appears to be a Thanksgiving family party, where a young man is getting peppered with questions about his post-high school plans. He’s rescued by his dad, who takes him out in the recently passed granddad’s 1987 Chevy truck.

What stands out here is just how quickly it ropes the viewer into the emotional stakes of the story. Too many ads these days go for a big emotional pay-off that ultimately fizzles because it wasn’t built on a strong enough foundation. I felt that way about Budweiser’s Super Bowl spot earlier this year. That commercial, to put it in Thanksgiving terms, was all trimmings, no meat.

Here, it’s the little things in the first few minutes that make a difference. The grandmother telling the dad to rescue his son. Our knowing right away that the daughter seems to have her life figured out in sharp contrast to the son’s searching eyes when asked about college options. The dad’s pause before putting on what is obviously his father’s old work coat.

At longer than five minutes, it can look like a long haul. But the pacing, story, casting, and pay-off are well worth the trip.