Business Daily – “The art of the Christmas advert”
BBC World Service | December 23, 2025
Host: Elizabeth Hodson

Overview: The Festive World of Christmas Advertising

In this episode, Elizabeth Hodson explores the vibrant, competitive world of Christmas advertising, examining how brands harness nostalgia, storytelling, and ever-shifting media platforms to stake a claim on the “Golden Quarter” of the year. With advertising spend expected to top $1 trillion for the first time, industry experts dissect what makes a festive campaign stick, why certain ads become cultural phenomena, and how creative tactics evolve across borders and budgets.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Origins and Impact of Iconic Christmas Advertising

• Coca Cola’s Enduring Influence [03:45]
  • Matt Johnson, Professor at Holt International Business School, outlines Coca Cola’s early ambition to be linked with happiness and wholesomeness. The brand's Christmas campaigns have become synonymous with the season, so much so that many mistakenly believe Coca Cola invented Santa’s red-and-white attire.
  • Quote:
    “Coca Cola has spent tens of billions of dollars each year really etching these associations into the mind of the general public... they’ve assimilated other things that are outside the brands that represent happiness to many people and they’ve worked very hard to kind of assimilate that into their brand architecture… Coca Cola very strategically has made Christmas also part of this broader brand association exercise.”
    – Matt Johnson [03:45]

2. The Role of Culture in Festive Advertising

• US vs UK Approaches [05:02]
  • Darren Bales, Global Chief Creative Officer, VCCP, describes the American focus on product in holiday ads, compared to the UK’s emphasis on narrative and emotion.
  • Quote:
    “American Christmas ads will be selling, selling, selling. Whereas if you look at the UK, brand is everything... they’re much more about the narrative and the emotional story. They’re there to charm people, make people feel good about the brands rather than ram product down their throat.”
    – Darren Bales [05:02]
• Guinness’ Nostalgic Tactic in the UK [06:01]
  • Debs Caldo, Marketing Director Guinness UK, details how Guinness imported an Irish Christmas ad that trades on nostalgia to the UK, customizing it by involving local pubs and leveraging AI.
  • Quote:
    “There is a scene in the ads of J O Connell’s pub in Ireland. We’ve taken 38 of our flagship Guinness outlets in the UK... and we put their pub in the picture and then we give it back to them to use on their social channels. So what you’ve now got is 38 variations of the GB Christmas Guinness ad.”
    – Debs Caldo [06:40]
• Inventing Traditions: KFC in Japan [07:52]
  • Lynn Deason, Kantar, highlights how KFC created the ritual of eating fried chicken for Christmas in Japan, a country where the holiday is secular and not widely celebrated.

3. Storytelling and The Spectacle of Christmas Ads

• From Product Pitches to Short Films [08:14]
  • Hodson describes how UK campaigns, notably John Lewis’ “The Long Wait,” turned Christmas ads into cultural events with lavish productions—sometimes even starring Hollywood A-listers, as with Keira Knightley’s new Waitrose ad.
• Impact on Brand and Sales [09:38]
  • Darren Bales counters skepticism:
    “If they weren’t important to a brand’s bottom line, they wouldn’t make them. They’re spending a lot of money because it gets a lot of eyeballs.”
    – Darren Bales [09:38]

4. The Christmas Ad as a “Gift” to Customers

• Meaning and Gratitude [11:58]
  • Becky Nadin, Deputy Creative Director, TBWA Manchester, sees the ad as more than a sales tool—it’s a thank you gesture for loyal customers facing tough economic times.
  • Quote:
    “Your ad is your Christmas gift to your customers... So your Christmas ad is your way of showing your consumers that you know them, that you care about them and consider it as how you would pick a gift for them...”
    – Becky Nadin [11:58]

5. Digital Transformation: Social Media and Old-School Tactics

• The New Media Landscape [13:22]

  • Pip Pross, Woodblock, compares the “unwrapping” of TV ads to the rapid-fire, attention-grabbing demands of social media, where you must “give the audience something that excites them right away.”
  • Quote:
    “With social media... imagine there are a thousand presents under your tree... So preparing your gift, you would have to kind of skip the wrapping part and give the audience something that excites them right away, which can be quite challenging… Instead of building a dramatic arc... we suddenly have to tell the punchline first.”
    – Pip Pross [13:22]

• Picking the Right Platforms Internationally [14:43]

  • Lynn Deason on selecting effective channels: Different countries trust and engage with different platforms—Pinterest in the UK, Apple TV in Germany, Google in India, Mercado Libre in Latin America.

• Coffee Cups as Prime Real Estate [15:36]

  • Becky Nadin describes Wild Bean Café’s double-sided Christmas cups—“ho, ho, ho” on one side, “no, no, no” on the other—demonstrating cost-effective physical ad space.
  • Quote:
    “It’s just on cups, they’re double sided... It’s a really small thing where we can put our Christmas campaign that fits literally right under the nose of a consumer.”
    – Becky Nadin [16:10, 16:45]

6. Creativity on a Tight Budget & Bold Campaigns

• PETA’s Shocking Social-First Campaign [17:22]
  • Helen Rhodes, Chief Creative Officer, Grey London, explains “Happy Chris Massacre,” a graphic social campaign showing a typical family Christmas dinner interrupted by a blood splatter—an unsettling metaphor for animal slaughter, designed for maximum shareability on limited funds.
  • Quote:
    “They wanted to shine a light on what was going on for the treatment of animals.... So we had to create a film that was very much sort of built for social... blood starts to splatter across their faces. But all the while they’re seemingly unbothered...”
    – Helen Rhodes [17:22]

7. Offbeat Brands and the Power of Distinctiveness

• Itsu’s Humorous Gyoza Campaign [19:09]
  • Itsu’s ad confronts Christmas as a tough sales period, using humor and a viral TikTok campaign to stand out.
  • Lynn Deason on success:
    “When brands are bold and they create ads that are really different and distinctive that people will talk about… you get that extra earned media on top of the actual media spend.”
    – Lynn Deason [19:31]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Matt Johnson on Brand Identity & Christmas:
  “Coca Cola very strategically has made Christmas also part of this broader brand association exercise.” [03:45]
• Darren Bales on the Value of Christmas Ads:
  “If they weren’t important to a brand’s bottom line, they wouldn’t make them. They’re spending a lot of money because it gets a lot of eyeballs.” [09:38]
• Becky Nadin on Ads as Gifts:
  “Your ad is your Christmas gift to your customers… you want something that you know they’ll love, you end the year on saying thanks for your loyalty.” [11:58]
• Helen Rhodes on Provocative Messaging:
  “They came to us with a really interesting brief to disrupt Christmas.” [17:22]
• Lynn Deason on Boldness & Distinctiveness:
  “When brands are bold and they create ads that are really different and distinctive… then you get that extra earned media...” [19:31]

Timestamps for Key Segments

• 01:11 – Introduction to the episode and scope.
• 03:45 – Matt Johnson on Coca Cola and brand-building through Christmas.
• 05:02 – Darren Bales on contrasts between US and UK ad styles.
• 06:01 – Debs Caldo on Guinness’ nostalgic, localized campaign.
• 07:52 – Lynn Deason on KFC’s Christmas innovation in Japan.
• 09:38 – The true influence of big-budget festive ads.
• 11:58 – Becky Nadin on ads as thoughtful “gifts.”
• 13:22 – Pip Pross dissects TV vs social media challenges.
• 14:43 – Lynn Deason on media channel preferences by country.
• 15:36 – Becky Nadin gets creative with coffee cup campaigns.
• 17:22 – Helen Rhodes unveils PETA’s provocative Christmas spot.
• 19:09 – Itsu’s alternative Christmas ad and viral strategies.

Episode Tone

• Insightful yet festive, with a mix of marketing savvy, humor, nostalgia, and sometimes irreverence—mirroring the emotional breadth of the best Christmas ads themselves.

Summary Takeaway

Christmas ads are no longer just vehicles for selling products—they’re pop cultural events, emotional touchstones, and strategic gifts from companies to consumers. Whether relying on blockbuster budgets or guerrilla creativity, the best campaigns blend storytelling, innovation, and a touch of seasonal magic to win not just wallets but hearts—and sometimes online virality and social debate along the way.