By Amber-Jade Jenkins, Art Director
That time is upon us again. Bublé and Mariah are on the airwaves and so are this year’s portfolio of Christmas ads. With so much anticipation of what brands’ new festive releases will bring, it seems many received a similar memo – to not show us anything new at all.
IRN-BRU has long been a frontrunner of this approach, with its ‘The Snowman’ creative, first seen in 2006, returning this year. The repetition of this creative in its many iterations has helped anchor the brand at the start of the festive season, particularly in Scotland, where it has achieved the status of an iconic ad. Similarly, Coca-Cola has brought back its distinctive ‘Holidays are Coming’ ad with a new creative execution, having been a staple of the season for the last 30 years.
This year, other brands have recognised the reward in revival, with brands like Amazon leaning on their creatives of Christmas Past. Indeed, in Amazon’s case this entails not an annual tradition but rather a regifting of its ‘Joy Ride’ creative from 2023, with the world’s biggest advertiser placing its faith in an old favourite, potentially a bellwether of the importance of nostalgia to many consumers.
As more and more brands get in on the nostalgia act, many questions remain: is it risky to bring back something people have seen before, especially when a brand’s Christmas ad is highly anticipated? Have brands become lazy? Have they all simply run out of ideas? Or, is a well-loved creative just the gift that keeps on giving? Is the real risk that you release a new ad that lacks the emotional connection of the ones that came before?
The results speak for themselves in System1’s Christmas Ad Rankings, with Amazon’s ‘Joy Ride’ taking the early top spot. The ad struck the most emotional response from consumers and demonstrated that this was a powerful and effective move from Amazon for long-term brand building.
It’s also interesting to note that Aldi and Sainsbury’s place fifth and ninth respectively on this list. Although they have created new spots for this year, they too are playing into the power of festive nostalgia.
We must also consider the general mood of the average consumer and how this impacts their receptiveness to Christmas ads. According to quarterly tracking from the7stars, consumers are feeling significantly less happy than they did this time last year (the QT, November 2025), with almost a third of Brits reporting that they now feel less comfortable with their income than before. This is reflected in some of the biggest Christmas ads of the year, with many tapping into themes of affordability and toxic masculinity as they seek to reflect back the mood of the nation.
With the Christmas spirit perhaps feeling a little low this year, maybe it was the perfect time to be reunited with old, well-loved characters of the Christmases that have come before. Perhaps in unpredictable times, there’s comfort and hope in the nostalgic, predictable familiarity.
