What’s Your Favorite Holiday Ad? We Asked UVA Marketing Experts for Theirs

They can make you smile or shed a tear. They can get you to reflect or prompt you to look ahead.

Themed advertisements have long been a staple of the holiday season, with roots in the 1930s and Coca-Cola’s use of Santa Claus sporting the company’s main color in the Saturday Evening Post.

With the rise of television in the mid-20th century, holiday broadcast ads gained popularity and left lasting impressions. When USA Today published its list of memorable Christmas commercials in December 2023, it included spots from five different decades.

With examples always just a YouTube link away, we asked a trio of marketing experts from the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business for the ingredients to a compelling holiday ad.

And to get your festive, nostalgic juices flowing, each professor then provided us with their favorite holiday ad.

Anthony Palomba, Assistant Professor of Business Administration

What makes a compelling holiday ad? 

“Compelling Christmas advertisements are those that truly capture the spirit and authenticity of the holiday. This is a holiday of selflessness and pausing one’s life and reflecting on what is meaningful for us, what propelled us in this current year, and what we have to look forward to in the next.

“There is a sense of existentialism rooted in this collective marking of one more year around the sun, hopefully steeped in gratitude for the experiences and engagements we’ve had during the year. Whether it is praying to a deity, upholding particular religious traditions, or reassembling with friends and family, the holidays demarcate a time of pensive and purposeful restoration and recharge.”

Favorite holiday ad: M&Ms – “They do exist!”

“This extends consumers’ belief in magic, and possibilities, as if M&Ms are real (to some extent), why can’t Santa be? While Santa doesn’t exist, neither do the anthropomorphic M&Ms. However, this story elevates the M&M candy to near-mythical levels and perhaps leaves the audience grateful that while they can’t talk to M&Ms, they can at least eat them. Santa, dually, serves as a symbol of generosity and giving – qualities that align with M&Ms’ ability to spark joy, surprise, intrigue, and create shared moments between people.

“Ultimately, the ad encapsulates a deeply profound message: The holidays encourage us to look beyond ourselves. We are often so consumed with ourselves, our lives, our friends, and our family, but through the prism of how we experience these relationships. The holidays prompt us to deliberately place others before us, and to be grateful for these connections that enrich our lives.”

Luca Cian, Killgallon Ohio Art Professor of Business Administration

What makes a compelling holiday ad?

“The key to creating a memorable holiday advertisement lies in its ability to create genuine emotional connections and some sense of nostalgia. Successful holiday campaigns center around universal themes like family reunions, the joy of giving, childhood wonder, or acts of kindness, bringing these stories to life through relatable characters whose journeys feel authentic and meaningful. The most impactful ads combine warm cinematography, carefully chosen music and intimate storytelling to create an atmosphere that captures the emotional aspirations of the season.

“The art of brand integration in holiday advertising requires a delicate touch – the most effective campaigns weave their commercial message naturally into the narrative, positioning their product or service as an enabler of the story’s emotional resolution rather than its focus.”

Favorite holiday ad: Bauli – “It is good like you are.”

“My favorite commercial was an old Italian commercial – there’s the nostalgia effect – about a pandoro, a typical Italian Christmas bakery product.

“The tagline means, ‘It is good like you are.’”

Kim Whitler, Frank M. Sands Sr. Associate Professor of Business Administration

Favorite holiday ad: Folgers – “The Christmas Homecoming” 

“This ad first aired in 1980, and then was recreated in 2009 as ‘The Christmas Homecoming.’ There was another version that aired in 1985, but it wasn’t a soldier returning home during the holidays, it was a son who unexpectedly returned home to surprise the family.

“What made each of these very similar commercials memorable was the core storyline. In the updated version, a soldier returns home early in the morning and surprises his sister while his parents are still sleeping. The parents are awakened by the smell of Folgers coffee brewing and the family reunites in the kitchen, sharing a hot cup of Folgers coffee.