Dissection of the Top 3 Christmas Ads of 2023

The holiday season is here, and marketers are feeling a mix of excitement and stress, most of whom are just waiting for the holidays to begin.?In this Canvas article, we explored the three Christmas ads that stood out from the sea of sameness and delivered fresh and engaging content.

1. Morrisons’ Musical

An adorable yet funny ad featuring oven gloves – a part of every Christmas meal, Morrisons’ musical with oven gloves stole hearts. Moving away from the boring one-tone Christmas ads, this one stands out as it uses a nostalgic element with the choice of music being Starships’ 1987 hit song ‘Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now’ and a hint of humor with every oven glove singing and having a different personality.

The ad was created by the agency Leo Burnett, and it debuted on ITV’s Coronation Street on the 6th of November. The ad is sprinkled with the Morrisons logo and product placements within the ad giving subtle cues about the brand, aiding in brand recall.

From the ad campaign, viewers recalled one of the most memorable parts of the ad at the 19-second mark where the glove sings “Put your hand in my hand” and the woman in the frame is seen putting on the glove.

The advert ends with a classic Morrisons jingle that says, “More Reasons to Shop at Morrisons”. The ad campaign was a hit, with 1.4M views on Instagram and 342K views on YouTube. Morrisons even started a campaign called “#GloveOke Anyone?” for viewers to participate in karaoke with their oven gloves by sharing a video with Morrisons which garnered a lot of eyeballs on this Christmas campaign.

2. Apple’s Fuzzy Feelings

Much awaited, Apple’s holiday campaign never fails to awestrike the masses. In this almost four-minute-long ad film, Apple managed to take us on a roller coaster of emotions. From humor to anger, the ad film was gripping.

The ad film created by TBWA\Media Arts Lab starts with an animated old man and his journey. The song “Isn’t It a Pity” by George Harrison plays in the background, with a mellow score. The animated old man?is showcased with a series of unfortunate events, when the camera zooms out, we are taken to a scene at 30 seconds where the latest iPhone 15 Pro Max is featured along with a 15-inch MacBook, and we see a woman creating the characters and capturing them in a stop-motion video.

We see the woman rush to her workplace and we meet the human version of the animated old man she was capturing earlier – her boss. The woman is seen juggling her work at the office and comes back home to punish her boss in her stop-motion videos by either electrocuting him or making him fall into a puddle.

The humorous scenes come to an end when the seemingly mean boss gifts her a pair of Christmas socks, soon after which she sees him dine alone at a restaurant. She makes the animated old man receive a dog as a gift for Christmas and she uses the socks he gifted her to mold the dog. For the first time, we see a happy ending given to the animated old man. This stop-motion video connects the reel-life and the real-life relationship with her boss perfectly, capturing the intricate struggles of a workplace relationship. The ad film ends with the woman joining her boss at the table for lunch.

苹果 was keen to showcase how creativity can help change how we see the world and how seeing things from a different ‘lens’ can be enlightening. The emotionally moving ad film won the hearts of many, receiving 16M views on YouTube and a short behind-the-scenes video with director Anna Mantzaris on Instagram garnered 1.8M views.

3. John Lewis’ Perfect Christmas Tree

Year after year, John Lewis’ Christmas adverts deliver unmatched creativity, and this year was no different. In the 2023 John Lewis Christmas ad film, we see a young boy at the market pick up a box labeled “The Perfect Christmas Tree” within which is a seed to grow into a Christmas tree but soon we see that the tree is not an ordinary one, it is a Venus fly trap.

We see the hilarious moments of the Venus fly trap growing out of control and destroying its surroundings but forming a bond with the young boy. Soon the fly trap is cast out onto the back of the house, due to its overwhelming size and it is replaced with a regular Christmas tree.

On Christmas day, the boy runs outside to ‘share’ his gift with the fly trap, the gift is ripped apart and thrown at each family member. The fly trap sings a ballad and bursts out confetti at the end, giving the advert a happy ending, which is out of the norm from their previous Christmas adverts which have sad endings which could be due to a new creative agency working with John Lewis this year, Saatchi and Saatchi.

The John Lewis & Partners ad campaign was much awaited this year, receiving 1.8M views on YouTube and 1.9M on Instagram. One special thing this campaign captures is the family, typically consisting of a mum and dad, this ad captures a home with a single mother and her mother taking care of the children. Here’s what people had to say: ?

There you have it! A round-up of popular Christmas adverts this year. We saw a ton of spectacular and innovative ad films straying away from the crowd. If you too would like to create a memorable Christmas ad next year, we crafted a guidebook diving deep into five creative elements, such as Visuals, Audio, Human Presence, Color, and Emotions which will help marketers like you create unique ad films. Download the free e-book here.