Feeling festive? It’s hard not to when everything you do – watch TV, listen to music, shop online, browse your news feeds – is served with a joyful holiday ad. These festive advertisements come in all types, giving us those warm, fuzzy feelings. That’s what the holidays are about, after all!
Here are some of our favorite holiday ads from 2017 and why they get us into the holiday spirit!
Amazon – Give
This simple advertisement is charming and graceful. It features a lady on a train who decides to order a gift for a little girl. Once the order is placed, we fast forward to singing and smiling Amazon boxes as they move through manufacturing lines, planes, trucks and their final destination: the smiling girl. All the while, the classic song Give a Little Bit plays in the background. If there’s one thing we’ve learned from Amazon, it’s that one simple purchase can spread a lot of cheer!
Macy’s – The Perfect Gift Brings People Together
Macy’s always has something new in store for the holiday season, and 2017 they did not disappoint. The retail company rolled out a handful of new ads for their The Perfect Gift Brings People Together campaign (Lighthouse, The Perfect Scent, The Wrong Size and The Holiday Lights). We bet you can shed tears through each and every one of them! The ads are simple but touching and all revolve around meaningful gifts that bring people closer together. Storytelling at its finest.
Toyota – R&S
Toyota has made some remarkable feel-good commercials, and their holiday R+S ad is no exception. In it, a family is having their beloved tree cut down. The wood is lugged away by Toyota trucks, of course. Just when we think that the tree is gone, we learn that some of the wood was repurposed into a beautiful table with the originally carved R+S for the parents’ names. It’s an endearing commercial that fits seamlessly with Toyota’s Let’s Go Places campaign.
M&M’s – Faint 2: Bring Everyone Together with M&M’s
Faint 2 is a sequel to the classic M&M’s Christmas commercial. If you recall, the original ad featured Santa and the yellow and red M&M’s meeting and exchanging “He/they are real!” Last we saw, Santa had fainted. In the sequel, the yellow M&M finishes Santa’s job, but gets the presents wrong. Fortunately, there’s a happy ending. As everyone in the town exchanges their gifts for the correct ones, they are brought together, hence the Bring Everyone Together with M&M’s campaign.
Summary
The one trend we’ve noticed with today’s holiday ads is the impressive storytelling. Even commercials that are only a few seconds long manage to hook us in with a powerful storyline. Brands from all industries use the holiday season to tap into human emotion and connect with a wider audience. It’s brilliant, really, as this is the time of the year when people are more open to receiving messages. What do you think of this year’s ads?
