From Glamour to Closeness: Christmas Advertising in 2025 and the Quiet Hope for 2026

2025 was a year of noise and velocity.
Campaigns raced ahead, content overflowed, and our attention splintered across an ever-growing stream of visual stimuli. Just when we expected 2026 to continue at the same relentless pace, a quiet signal of change appeared — a Christmas miracle, subtle and understated, like a harbinger of brighter days ahead.

Cloud Dancer (Pantone Color of the Year 2026, PANTONE 11-4201) — the color of the year — is almost white, almost air. Not a contrast to chaos, but a pause after it; that moment when the world grows still and you can once again hear what truly matters.

In this pre-holiday hush, with focus turning inward and toward the people closest to us, Christmas campaigns of 2025 shone in the same tone — as a premonition of a new beginning: harmonious, quiet, and magical. After years of overwhelming visual noise, brands shifted their attention to human stories. Not idealized influencers, but natural performances. Not flashy seconds, but moments that breathe, where pauses speak louder than action.

Christmas narratives this year revolved around presence, forgiveness, connection, and warmth — those fragile themes that cannot be measured, yet when we align with them, we become lighter, happier, and uplifted.
Playful, joyful campaigns also found their place — because celebration and joy are a natural continuation of gratitude for what we already have, and a reminder to protect and nurture it in the year ahead.

This Christmas, the advertising industry demonstrated that magic doesn’t reside solely in effects or technological advancement, but in warmth, closeness, authenticity, and genuine human connection — the kind that transcends our differences.

Top 10 Christmas Ads of 2025

1. Disney — Best Christmas Ever

Market: Global
Agency / Director: Taika Waititi, featuring John Goodman as the voice of Doodle

Disney placed emotion above spectacle with a film about a small hero born from children’s drawings — Doodle, without a mouth, yet full of soul. The campaign received overwhelmingly positive audience reactions and was named the most emotionally impactful campaign of the year, according to analysis by UK-based agency DAIVID.

2. John Lewis — Where Love Lives

Market: UK
Agency: Saatchi & Saatchi

A masterclass in nostalgic, deeply human storytelling that transcends commerce. A father and son reconnect through a vinyl gift featuring the 90s hit Where Love Lives, released as a limited 12-inch edition created exclusively for the campaign, featuring the original Alison Limerick track alongside a new interpretation by Labrinth. The ad quickly became a cultural moment on social media, reminding audiences of music’s power to bridge generations.

3. Amazon – “Joy Ride”

Country:
Agency: In-house creative team & Hungry Man

Rather than launching an entirely new story, Amazon revived its deeply emotional Christmas campaign “Joy Ride” from 2023. The film follows three lifelong friends—elderly women—who decide to reconnect with the joy of their youth and the memories they share, racing down a snowy hill together. Adapted for the season, the ad returned to screens as part of Amazon’s broader holiday campaign for 2025.

The narrative leans heavily on nostalgia and human connection, with Amazon’s product presence woven subtly and unobtrusively into the story.

4. Waitrose — The Perfect Gift

Market: UK
Agency: Wonderhood Studios

A nearly feature-length mini film styled as a romantic comedy — encounters, warmth, humor, and heartfelt moments unfolding around a food counter. The campaign proved that a story woven from simple festive gestures can be both entertaining and deeply moving.

5. Dr. Oetker — Ginger’s Christmas

Market: UK / Europe / Canada

A charming stop-motion universe built from real sweets and cinnamon. A new character, Ginger, guides us through a fantastical world where craftsmanship and emotion triumph over technological spectacle.

6. Piraeus Bank & EuroLeague — Christmas Is On the Line

Market: Greece
Agency: The Newtons Laboratory

A comedic tale featuring elves and basketball players saving Christmas — a fresh, local, and playful narrative that proves even corporate campaigns can be warm, funny, and meaningful.

7. Google — Holiday Spots 2025

Markets: USA / Canada / UK
Agencies: Google Creative Lab, NBCUniversal, WPP

Google seamlessly blended its technological focus with nostalgic pop culture references, recreating iconic scenes from Love Actually while showcasing new AI features. The campaign balanced intelligent product storytelling with strong emotional identity through a social-first series inspired by the film and three playful, fictional holiday rom-com trailers. In humorous, highly recognizable situations, Google demonstrated the capabilities of Search, Lens, and AI Mode — positioning technology as a natural extension of human holiday stories.

8. Allegro — The Best World Is the One We Create Together

Markets: Poland / Czech Republic / Slovakia
Agency: DDB Warsaw

A thoughtful combination of hand-drawn animation and AI, used intelligently to visualize a child’s imagination. A story about presence, connection, and co-creation.

9. O Boticário — Christmas Photo Album

Market: Brazil
Agency: AlmapBBDO

The film follows a young woman leafing through a family photo album — but instead of warm nostalgia, she recalls painful, seemingly “harmless” comments made by loved ones. The photos unlock not images, but words, reminding us that what is said within a family leaves an emotional imprint that endures over time.

The campaign draws attention to the power of language: words can wound, but they can also heal. In a festive context, O Boticário delivers a delicate message of empathy, acceptance, and love — because these are the memories worth preserving.

10. Ria Money Transfer — Successful Transfers

Markets: Italy / Spain / USA
Agency: Casanova McCann

A print campaign that illustrates how sending money is more than a transaction — it’s a way to be present, even from afar. Quiet, honest, and emotionally powerful.

 
Analytical Perspective: Warmth Over Noise, Human Stories Over Visual Excess

2025 demonstrated that the most powerful campaigns are not those that simply dazzle, but those that create genuine connections between brand and audience. Brands chose stories of presence, forgiveness, connection, gratitude, and human truth — narratives that resonate beyond the screen. This shift comes at a time when society longs for pause, reflection, and meaningful human relationships — the very values Christmas symbolizes most profoundly.

The Christmas Advertising Standard of 2025 — and a Quiet Hope for 2026

 
The 2025 holiday season not only revitalized the genre but redefined the standards of what effective Christmas advertising means. Messages are no longer just visual feasts — they are human stories crafted with respect for the audience, sensitivity to emotional nuance, and faith that the true magic of Christmas lives in human warmth, not technological spectacle.

The industry took a meaningful step toward a future where harmony, authenticity, and purpose outweigh visual excess. And in this quiet festive pause, a hope is born for 2026 — a year in which advertising will no longer shout through effects, but whisper stories that touch the soul.