The Best Christmas Ads of 2025: How Brands Are Winning (or Not) on YouTube
There’s no doubt that Christmas ads have become a ritual in their own right. As we pack away pumpkins and fireworks, brands roll out glitter, tinsel, and stories designed to tug at our heartstrings before December even begins.
In 2025, brands seem to have doubled down on familiarity. This festive season sees the return of beloved characters and celebrity leads. Campaigns have expanded far beyond a single hero film, creating entire ecosystems of additional content and community moments - behind-the-scenes clips, cast interviews, curated playlists, and Shorts - as brands meet their audiences where they already are: online.
At the center of this shift is YouTube. A distribution platform, community hub, and search engine all in one, it caters to audiences hungry to catch up on all of the festive storytelling. In fact, research from Kantar suggests 25% of UK adults are “eager to watch ads on YouTube” - up 5% on 2024.
The Navigate Video Christmas Ad Nice List 2025
We asked the Navigate Video team to share their favourite Christmas ads of 2025 and dig into exactly how YouTube is making an impact. Here’s what stood out:
Jas - Waitrose: The Perfect Gift
Rather than selling a particular product or Christmas range, Waitrose sells a feeling, with a welcomed rom-com lean in this year’s Christmas advert.
Playing homage to Love Actually, the supermarket casts Keira Knightley in her type-cast festive role, and it makes perfect sense. Her lifestyle is aspirational - which, for many, is exactly what Waitrose is. She appeals both to those who relate, and those who want to be.
But what’s especially clever is the casting of Joe Wilkinson, returning as Phil, the character introduced in 2024. The popular comedian - fresh from his well-received run on Celebrity Traitors - isn’t someone typically associated with high-end or luxury (sorry Joe!). But this contrast works: he bridges the gap and speaks to shoppers who may not usually consider Waitrose.
This pairing de-stigmatizes the brand, making one of the more expensive supermarkets appear more welcoming and down-to-earth. The mini-romcom format is fun and creative. Plus, Waitrose really makes the most of YouTube’s ecosystem with additional assets and community-building moments that we love.
What worked on YouTube
A playlist collating all campaign assets for deeper viewing
Interview with Keira Knightley using YouTube’s Collaborations feature with well-known creator Max Balegde
Interview with Joe Wilkinson on their The Dish Podcast
Active comment interaction to build community
Logo placement for brand recall
Closed captions for accessibility
Optimised metadata - titles, descriptions, and thumbnails
A channel banner updated to match the campaign
Rosie - Morrisons: Year in the Making
Morrisons delivers a wholesome, traditional Christmas feel in this year's advert, while reminding viewers that the food we enjoy during the holidays is the result of a year’s worth of work.
The tone is nostalgic and family-focused, highlighting the human effort behind the festive feast in a more striped back and simple nature than we’ve seen a lot of Christmas ads in recent years. We see everyone from bakers and farmers to fishermen and delivery drivers playing their part throughout the year - it gives a sense of friendliness and community.
The YouTube rollout extends the campaign with some simple behind-the-scenes content repurposed into Shorts, offering snackable insights into the making of the advert. An audio-described version ensures accessibility, and shorter edits are published to reach audiences with varying attention spans (though this does split analytics).
What worked on YouTube
BTS clips made into Shorts
Audio-described version
Optimised title
Maddie - Boots: Puss in Boots
Boots’ 2025 festive campaign uses clever humour and familiar storybook characters to create a memorable and rewatchable experience as they encourage their audience to “gift happily ever after”.
This playful twist sees Puss in Boots (literally) interacting with other fairytale figures - characters we could easily imagine returning in future years. From gifting hand warmers to the Snow Queen to jokes about the cats nine lives, the humour gives the ad charm and lightness.
Boots also leaned heavily into YouTube’s strengths, building a playlist with all supplementary content. Viewers can even dive deeper with multiple behind-the-scenes films showing how the advert came to life.
What worked on YouTube
Dedicated playlist collating all campaign assets
Additional BTS footage, extended cuts, and supplementary stories
Optimised titles, descriptions, and thumbnails
A channel banner updated to match the campaign
Active comment interaction to build community
Hazel - John Lewis: A Father and Son Story
John Lewis continues its legacy of emotional storytelling, this year highlighting a father and son expressing love and emotion. It’s a heartwarming reminder that vulnerability and male emotion are not only okay, but worth celebrating.
I am a big believer that music can take you back to core moments in your life and the musical choice in this Christmas advert plays a big role. It reinforces that nostalgia, tapping into viewers’ memories while creating strong emotional resonance.
On YouTube, John Lewis invites audiences behind the curtain with a “making of” film, adding depth and reinforcing the craft behind the advert.
Good job once again, John Lewis!
What worked on YouTube
Audio-described version
Active comment interaction to build community
Behind-the-scenes “making of” video
Optimised title and description
Sita - Barbour x Wallace & Gromit
In an era dominated by AI-generated content, Barbour’s stop-motion ad is a much-needed breath of fresh air. This collaboration with Britain’s beloved Wallace & Gromit feels handcrafted, heartfelt, and perfectly aligned with the festive spirit.
Created with love and care, the ad is charming, rewatchable, and (most importantly) doesn’t feel like an ad. It builds on last year’s Shaun the Sheep campaign, strengthening Barbour’s partnership with animation studio Aardman and celebrates British heritage through Barbour’s iconic tartan.
The use of YouTube’s collaboration feature between Wallace & Gromit and Aardman to highlight the animation studio is a particularly thoughtful touch - although the advert is published separately on the Barbour account.
What worked on YouTube
Use of YouTube collaborations feature highlighting Aardman and Wallace & Gromit
Branded logo in the corner
Active comment interaction to build community
Optimised title and description
Behind-the-scenes video showing the making of
Shorts that expand reach
Matt - Burberry: 'Twas The Knight Before…
Burberry blends film and digital techniques to create a nostalgic yet modern Christmas advert that is jam packed with big names; including Jennifer Saunders as the host and Ncuti Gatawa and Son Heung-Min as guests. The cinematic final shot is particularly striking, bridging the past and present with polished storytelling and great visuals.
The YouTube rollout builds on the power of YouTube’s tools and the recognisable faces we see throughout the ad. Shorts show an alternate perspectives such as doorbell camera footage that extend the story beyond the hero film and keep viewers engaged across formats - all are kept in a nicely formatted playlist for audiences to catch up on the full campaign.
What worked on YouTube
Bespoke captions
Clear logo placement
Shorts that build on the story
Dedicated playlist collating all campaign assets
Sabrina - Jo Malone: Christmas Has Arrived
In line with the launch of the 2025 Christmas collection and inspired by the festive periods, parties and games, Jo Malone invites its audiences to get into the merry spirit in its 2025 Christmas campaign.
In the advert, we see a group gathered around a festively decorated feast having fun and playing games. I'm not a fan of a long, story-based, heart wrenching Christmas ad (controversial I know!), so this format appeals to me in a way that other Christmas ads don't.
Keeping impeccably on brand it’s immediately recognisable as Jo Malone - from the colour palette and the costumes, to the use of the same geometric designs that they use across their Christmas packaging and bottles every year.
It’s clear the creative design, direction and thought behind the ad is strong with everything from the camera work to use of slow motion, characters, and music all adding to the brands luxury feel.
On YouTube we can see additional Shorts have been created for the campaign to drive further discovery and give audiences a different perspective - a great way to get more from a single shoot. The next step would be looking at more intentional keyword placements and linking within each video's metadata.
What worked on YouTube
Shorts that expand the campaigns reach
A good start for metadata optimisation with hashtags and linking in the description
Who Got It Wrong?
While our top picks dominated on YouTube in 2025, several campaigns stood out for other reasons.
Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola once again faced backlash for relying heavily on AI-generated content. The ad sparked debate around authenticity in festive campaigns. It certainly generated conversation, but also proved that even legacy brands aren’t immune to audience scrutiny in the digital age.
Itsu
Itsu released a clever, self-aware Christmas ad poking fun at the fact that no one buys Itsu during the holidays. It’s witty and well-executed, but surprisingly absent from YouTube - a missed opportunity to appear in search, Shorts feeds, and recommended videos during the most competitive content season of the year.
Conclusion
From emotional storytelling that stops viewers mid-scroll to clever creator tie-ins and multi-format rollouts, the standout campaigns all understand exactly how audiences behave in an increasingly online world.
YouTube is a playground for creativity, community, and discovery. And in 2025, the brands that embraced this are the ones winning hearts, views, and conversations.
