A Lookback At the 5 Best Christmas Ad Campaigns of 2023
Once again, it’s the holiday season! Christmas 2023 is here, which means that snowmen, reindeer, and Santa Claus have also arrived. And it also means that Christmas advertisements are in their prime! This is the time of year when investing a penny in a Christmas advertisement yields substantial returns. Big and small brands alike view the Christmas season as a unique chance to engage with their customers and win over their hearts with the genuine spirit of the occasion.
These advertisements convey tales that encapsulate the charm and coziness of the holiday season, making them more than just commercials. This year, love, kindness, and unity were the main themes. So without further ado, let’s check out 2023’s top Christmas ad campaign!
Hangover Whopper: Burger King’s Hangover Cure
During the Christmas season, Burger King Brazil, in partnership with the creative brains at DM9 agency, launched the ‘Hangover Whopper‘ campaign to cater to those who may have overindulged in the celebrations. Burger King Brazil’s “Hangover Whopper” is designed to coincide with end-of-year celebrations, which are frequently characterized by late nights and difficult mornings. It links the delivery of fast food to a time when it’s most needed: during a hangover. The fast-food restaurant chain did this by using facial recognition technology to prevent hangover food.
The promotion delivers a matching combo coupon for the Whopper Jr. Double, Whopper, or Whopper Double based on a person’s “hangover level,” which is determined by facial recognition technology. A Whopper is designed to cure in addition to providing post-drinking nourishment. The suggested mix and discount provided increase with the degree of hangover. BK is satisfying customer desires and bringing a lighthearted touch to the holiday hangover experience with its creative campaign that integrates facial recognition technology. It’s a fun and unique way to eat your favorite Burger King sandwiches while recovering from the festivities.
Read More: An Innovative Triumph: Burger King x Stevenage FC Case Study
The World Needs More Santas: Coca-Cola Ad Campaign
The 2023 Coca-Cola Holiday Film is set in a bustling city filled with hundreds of Santas instead of the typical people! These Santas are shown in the commercial assisting individuals in little but significant ways, going above and beyond simply bringing presents. However, these Santas are only regular folks who display their “Inner Santa” by being giving and compassionate. The phrase “The World Needs More Santa’s” appears at the end of the video, reminding us that we may all embody the spirit of Santa via small deeds of kindness.
Coca-Cola and Christmas go hand in hand
Within the realm of holiday-themed advertising, Coca-Cola and Santa Claus have a unique relationship. Christmas advertisements for Coca-Cola have long been a holiday tradition, known for their capacity to inspire amazement, warmth, and happiness. The film explores the concept of what it means to be a “Santa.” Two things in particular stick out:
- The ad instantly establishes an emotional connection with the viewer by emphasizing small deeds of kindness.
- The brand maintains realism and relatability by using actual people and real-life situations.
These two elements give the brand a human touch and capture the essence of Christmas and Santa Claus. Additionally, the brand has chosen an admirable inclusive representation. This Coca-Cola commercial is one of the cutest of 2023 and is really uplifting!
Santa’s Cookie Overload Nightmare: Frito Lays
Is it unreasonable for Santa to request some savory munches? Father Christmas isn’t afraid to express his displeasure about constantly being left out cookies in the Frito-Lay festive area. The typically cheery present giver is actually so tired of the sweets that he’s having unsettling dreams about them. In his nightmare, an army of living gingerbread men overthrows him and flips him into the ground.
Savory Christmas
Is switching to potato chips going to help? Probably not, though. If nothing else, it would be a refreshing change of pace, as Rethink ironically demonstrated in their debut piece for Lay’s, a division of Frito Lay Canada. Santa is shown in the hero 60 secs ad below becoming slightly insane from cookie overload and going into a hallucinatory nightmare before being saved during one of his stops by a generous-hearted homeowner who loves Lay’s. At last, he finds relief when a father who is munching at midnight offers him some chips. Fortunately, Santa comes to his senses and has a Frito-Lay snack for himself before continuing to deliver gifts throughout the evening.
Frito-Lay Canada provided information for the commercial, implying that some people find the holidays to be a bit too sugary. During the holidays, 68% of Canadians occasionally crave something other than sweets, and over one-third really prefer savory food. The campaign began with an open letter from Santa Claus that appeared in national newspapers, expressing his request for something delicious to be served during the holidays. The advertisement is backed by out-of-home, digital, online, social, and national broadcast buys.
Joy is Shared: Amazon
Amazon’s Christmas ad from 2023 is evoking strong emotions this season. The commercial, which is part of a worldwide marketing campaign named “Joy is Shared,” depicts the story of enduring friendship and finding joy in the little things in life. The company’s most recent seasonal blitz revolves around a 60-second commercial called “Joy Ride.” It features three elderly women seated on a park bench outside. They observe kids and teenagers sliding down a hill in a sight that seems to take them back to their early years. Later, on a joyful hike down the hill, one of the women places an order on Amazon for seat cushions. The three of them then slide together as memories from the past begin to clear.
A Christmas Significance
The promo is part of Amazon’s internal creative team’s integrated “Joy is Shared” campaign. The ad demonstrates that certain pleasures endure a lifetime. It fuses the past and present with an instrumental rendition of the Beatles’ “In My Life.” With marketers realizing that today’s consumers need to prioritize their health and well-being, the joy topic has become increasingly prominent in the past year. Offering happy moments can assist businesses in connecting on a deeper emotional level with their target audiences; storytelling is an excellent method to do this. The emotionally charged content may strike a chord with viewers who are concerned about how rising prices may affect their Christmas plans.
Apple’s Fuzzy Feeling
Apple is well-known for its touching holiday adverts, and the company’s campaign this year is among its best. An excellent ad with a compelling story, excellent graphics, and a liberal dose of emotion. Apple’s 2023 holiday commercial is gaining popularity because it features all of them.
The Fuzzy Feeling Christmas Campaign
The nearly four-minute short, “Fuzzy Feelings,” portrays the story of a young woman who has a cranky manager. To get out of the situation, the office worker uses her artistic abilities to utilize her iPhone. She creates a stop-motion picture featuring that grumpy manager. The main character records her boss on a tiny scale in several scenarios. It includes him getting hit by a car, falling into ice rivers, and even getting snowed on. The woman starts to understand why the irritable man is acting so coldly as the ad goes on because the live-action pictures show a different side to him.
The soundtrack for the film is George Harrison’s “Isn’t It a Pity” and it alternates between live-action and stop-motion scenes. While many corporations are going for humor during this holiday season, Apple has chosen a completely different approach. It is touching people’s emotions with its holiday advertisement. Regarding the movie, it’s heartfelt without being overly sweet, skillfully balancing on the verge of sentimentality. Furthermore, there is no sense of constraint in the design of the MacBook Air and iPhone 15 Pro Max. It seems that Apple is carrying on its annual tradition of releasing holiday flicks with Fuzzy Feelings.
Read More: Apple Tests Generative AI, A Potential Rival To ChatGPT Emerges
