by filmpunksThe Top 10 Christmas Ads of 2025
Engineered tear-jerkers, cosy stop-motion, bold AI swings, and one big cultural drop. Snappy verdicts with links to watch. 3 min read.
Christmas ads have officially crash-landed into our timelines and yes, we’re already emotionally compromised. Some brands went big, some went weird, and some just lobbed a carrot wearing a scarf into the nation’s hearts again. It’s the annual creative showdown where the brief is always the same: make us cry, make us laugh… or at least make us remember the brand.
From engineered tear-jerking to full-blown festive fun, here’s our rundown of the campaigns that sleighed, surprised, and sometimes slightly baffled us this Christmas.
Cue the snow machines. Roll the orchestral cover of a nostalgic pop banger. Let’s go.
John Lewis — The Tear Jerker
John Lewis is back doing what they do best: engineered emotion with gorgeous craft. It’s cinematic, heartfelt, and annoyingly effective. The benchmark, again.
Wallace & Gromit x Barbour
Aardman’s stop motion charm meets Barbour’s heritage. It’s cosy, funny, and beautifully made. Pure British Christmas energy.
ALDI — Kevin the Carrot’s Big Finish
Kevin’s back and somehow the little guy still delivers. ALDI keep the formula tight: simple story, a load of heart, and just the right hit of humour. It’s warm, and charming
Coca-Cola — The AI Experiment
Coke doubled down on AI again this year and yes, it split the room. Slick visuals, slightly uncanny moments, and a whole lot of online noise. Our take? AI’s a tool. If it helps tell a story, great. If it doesn’t, you feel it instantly. This one sits somewhere in the middle, interesting, bold, but not quite Christmas warm. Still, everyone talked about it… which might have been the whole point.
M&S — Sleigh the Season
We love Dawn French national treasure, zero debate. But this spot? It doesn’t quite land. The idea’s big, loud and chaotic, but not in a way that feels charming.
McDonald's x The Grinch
The Grinch plotting and scheming season has struck again with new seasoning McDonald's fries ! Quick and punchy brings all the elements of the Christmas classic film with the new products.
The Perfect Gift | Waitrose | Christmas Ad 2025
With a Richard Curtis tone, Waitrose gives a remake of Love Actually where food lovers find their happy ending. Even though lengthy and very narrative heavy once you start you can’t turn away.
Lancôme Express
To celebrate the 90th anniversary Lâncome gave us a french glamorous train ride full of star power with Damien Chazelle’s direction. We fell in love with the art direction and its colours.
Carrefour — 𝗗𝗘𝗦 𝗣𝗨𝗟𝗟𝗦 𝗣𝗔𝗦 𝗖𝗢𝗠𝗠𝗘 𝗟𝗘𝗦 𝗔𝗨𝗧𝗥𝗘𝗦
On the other side of the channel, Carrefour gave life and personality to their Christmas jumpers. Through a simple metaphor with a seamless animation, we get enthralled in their journey.
Watch on Instagram
Open ReelKnives Out 3 — Wake Up Dead Man
Not an ad — a little curveball to keep you on your toes if you’re still with us. Call it our festive top recommendation: a nail-biting whodunnit with an incredible cast and proper crowd-pleasing chaos. Watch it on Netflix from 12 December — the new mystery from Rian Johnson.
That’s your lot. The big hitters. Some melted hearts. Some melted brains. The ones that made us go “Yep. That’s Christmas.” All of them fought for that prime-time festive glory.
Some smashed it. Some bottled it. All of them reminded us why we love this season in ad-land