During the holiday season, we are flooded with advertisements. Some are a flash in the pan, others are cheesy and unbearable to watch. But then there are the best holiday ads that catch our attention so well that they make it to our screens every year as time passes.
So why are the best holiday ads so good? What makes them timeless? Why do some of us actually look forward to seeing them in between holiday TV specials? And how are they as memorable as a quote from Christmas Vacation (“You serious, Clark?”)?
In order to answer all of these questions, I decided to pose a question of my own. I took to the Tower Marketing collective and asked them “What is your favorite holiday ad of ALL TIME?”
Here’s what they had to say:
From the Tower Team
AD #1
The Person
Zach Fedor, a web developer at Tower, chose a classic Campbell’s Soup ad.
The Ad
The ad itself features a snowman in a frozen winter night scene. The night is so cold that even the snowman wishes to go inside to warm up. You can see the entire ad below.
Why is it timeless?
If you ask anyone who was a child from 1995 and on, they will most likely name this ad as the most memorable holiday commercial. It takes them back to a time when snow days didn’t mean shoveling out your car to get to work. It meant going out in the winter wonderland with your friends, building snowmen, sledding, and having snowball fights. When the day was done, you then went inside to warm up with a blanket, some hot chocolate, or even a bowl of soup. This ad brings back fond memories and Campbell’s understands this.
AD #2
The Person
Adam Miller is another web developer here at Tower, with an interesting sense of humor (see the ad below).
The Ad
He went with a recent and more comical holiday ad. If you’ve been on the Internet in the past few years you’ve probably seen this ad. It features a line of men who you think will play a song with bells, but it turns out they have something else in mind. If you’re looking for a chuckle, you can watch the “Show Your Joe” ad below.
Why is it timeless?
At this current point in time, if you mention Joe Boxer, chances are the first thing that will pop into someone’s head is this ad. It is a very funny and somewhat inappropriate way to stand out during the holiday season. However, instead of running the same ad the following year, Joe Boxer decided to do a different version of this ad. The overall theme is there, but it is lost its humor. We shall see in the coming years if this will be one of the best holiday ads.
AD #3
The Person
The CEO of Tower, Mike Matus, wanted to join in on the conversation.
The Ad
Mike also picked an older, timeless ad from the fine folks at Hershey. You can watch it below.
Why is it timeless?
This ad is plain and simple. It also does not feature anything that could date it such as technology; however, the visual quality could give it away. People expect to see this ad every year now because Hershey decided to run it every holiday season. They’ve made themselves present year in and year out, and viewers always enjoy seeing the little kisses pretending to be bells even at the end of 2014.
These picks are some good examples of the best holiday ads, but I wasn’t quite satisfied.
Turning to Twitter
I then decided to do some digging around Twitter to get answers from others outside of the Tower family. Let’s see what they had to say!
AD #4
The Person
Daniel Desforges was quick to answer our question. Daniel, a native of Toronto, is the business manager for FASHIONIGHTS.com, one of Canada’s top fashion & lifestyle blogs.
The Ad
Daniel, who writes about high-quality fashion, happened to pick an ad for a high-quality item, the iPhone.
Dear @towermarketing, 1 of my favourite ads for the #Holidays has to be #Apple‘s 2013 commercial #TowerAsks http://t.co/MCo2wKPPVN— Daniel Desforges (@dothedaniel) December 18, 2014
In this ad, a family gathers for the holidays. The teenager, who tends to be a recluse at most family functions, stays in the background of most of the family activities with his iPhone in hand. Christmas morning comes, and the family has taken notice of the boy’s absence, but all is resolved when he turns on the TV and presents a heart-warming video he created with just his iPhone.
Why is it timeless?
Obviously, this ad isn’t quite timeless yet since it only aired last year. It also features technology that was current at the time which could stop it from being timeless. Tech evolves so quickly it’s almost impossible to stay current. Imagine watching this same ad in two years using your iPhone 7, while the teen in the commercial is still using the iPhone 5; talk about OLD technology!
However, Apple could continue the theme of this ad to keep it timeless. This year, they put out a similar sentimental ad in which a younger girl finds an old recording her grandmother made for her husband. She uses her Apple products to create a duet with her as a holiday gift. This ad will pull on any viewer’s heartstrings, and it is just as effective as last year’s ad. You can see this new Apple spot below.
AD #5
The Person
John Wise gave us his thoughts on a classic ad. John is the director of digital media for Wave 3 News, a television station in Louisville, Kentucky. The Ad John gave us multiple ads but we decided to focus on the classic ad that he mentioned.
@towermarketing Clydesdales are always memorable but @budweiser #holidaybuds a good idea for 2014. @StellaArtois #givebeautifully good also. — John P. Wise (@wisejohnp) December 10, 2014
You can watch the ad below.
Why is it timeless?
The Clydesdale is synonymous with Budweiser. Whether it’s during the holidays or the Super Bowl, you will usually see an ad with the larger than life horses trotting down a road pulling a Budweiser carriage.
The above ad is timeless for many reasons. First, it is a retro ad that has been used for several years, just like the Campbell Soup or Hershey Kisses ads. It is also simple in nature in that it shows the iconic animal carrying the product through a wintery landscape. It ends with a holiday wish, much like what neighbors would say to one another. The Budweiser brand wanted to be seen as a person, not as a company.
Conclusion
So what have we learned from some of the best holiday ads? Well, for one, being sentimental during this cultural season is ideal. There are many memories that tie into this time of the year, and bringing them to the consumer is the best way to wish them happy holidays while also building brand awareness.
We also learned that comedy isn’t a bad option as well. Joe Boxer has started a holiday campaign that has peaked viewers’ interests for the time being. People are looking for the new comical ad from the underwear company every year now to see if they can outdo last year’s spot. However, this could be risky in that the newest ad could be less entertaining, which would cause the campaign to lose effectiveness.