As Coca-Cola reminds us: "The Holidays are Coming". And here at Good-Loop, we could not be more excited.
Sure, the thought of guzzling our entire body weight in mulled wine and mince pies is enough to get most people on the edge of their seats.
But what really gets us counting the days ahead of the upcoming Yuletide season is the festive glut of purpose-powered ads we're about to be served.
Well, we are an ad tech company, after all.
Sure, Xmas is the most commercial time of the year, but it's also the season of goodwill. A time when we're more likely to think with our hearts than our wallets. A time when giving is better than receiving.
For brands that means spreading a message beyond festive cheer. It's the least consumers expect, especially during the holidays. According to a Kantar study, 68% of US consumers expect brands to be clear about their values, with younger generations expecting the most.
And at Christmas, as anyone who has ever sat at home with a hanky in hand watching the latest John Lewis festive offering, such purpose-powered messaging is usually accompanied by a firm tug on the heartstrings and a healthy dollop of saccharine-rich sentimentality.
So to get us all in the Xmas spirit, I thought it would be fun to go back through Christmases past and present and pick my favourite purpose-powered holiday ads of all time. There's a lot to choose from, so we have tried to stick to campaigns that were supported by charity partners. This is also just my own personal choices, so feel free to suggest your own.
Enjoy!
5. Brand: Disney
Campaign: From Our Family To Ours
Year: 2020
Charity Partner: Make A Wish
Top of the 2020 festive tree was Disney's animated ad, "From Our Family To Ours".
It tells the heartwarming story of a grandmother's relationship with her granddaughter and the importance of family traditions during the holiday season -- and it certainly packs an emotional punch.
The ad marks the 40-year partnership with Make-A-Wish, with some of the proceeds from the sale of the limited-edition vintage Mickey Mouse soft toy featured in the ad going towards the children's charity.
4. Brand: John Lewis
Campaign: Man on the Moon
Year: 2015
Charity Partner: Age UK
After the resounding success of such uplifting campaigns as "The Journey", "The Bear and The Hare" and "Monty The Penguin", the UK retailer struck a more sombre, sad tone with "Man on the Moon".
Telling the story of a young girl trying to contact an old man spotted living alone on the Moon, the ad took aim at loneliness among the elderly, which spikes during the holiday period. The tagline was "Show Someone They're Loved This Christmas".
3. Brand: Iceland
Campaign: Say Hello To Rang-tan. #NoPalmOilChristmas
Year: 2018
Charity Partner: Greenpeace
Forget John Lewis, Iceland's 2018 holiday ad was easily the most talked about ad of Christmas 2018. And for good reason.
Very different to your usual festive fare, the ad, featuring an orangutan that tries to befriend a little girl in her home because he has nowhere else to live, was a repurposed Greenpeace video used to promote Iceland's ban on palm oil products.
It was banned from TV for being too political, but that didn't stop it from going viral across social media. A masterclass in effective purposeful messaging.
2. Brand: Sainsbury's
Campaign: "Christmas is for Sharing"
Year: 2014
Charity Partner: The Royal British Legion
The supermarket took inspiration for its "Christmas is for Sharing" message from the pages of history, retelling the famous true story of the Christmas Day truce during WWI. Made in partnership with The Royal British Legion, it depicts the two days that the German and Allied troops stopped fighting to acknowledge and celebrate Christmas.
1. Brand: John Lewis
Campaign: Monty The Penguin
Year: 2014
Charity Partner: WWF UK
Hand on heart, this is my favourite holiday ad by a country mile, and still gives me a small lump on my throat every time I watch it.
For good reason. The ad, featuring the lovelorn Monty, is a masterpiece in effective emotional storytelling, with a nice twist at the end.
And I'm not the only one who loves it. When it was released, the ad sparked Montymania among frenzied UK Christmas shoppers, desperate to get their own penguin pal for their kids. For WWF UK it meant an early festive gift, generating a huge uptake in its penguin adoption programme, thanks to additional support from brands such as Coca-Cola and Whiskas.
The charity also received 89p from each purchase of the advert's theme song -- Tom Odell's rendition of The Beatles' song 'Real Love'.
