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Even without the polar bears, Coca-Cola apparently has no problem getting consumers in the holiday spirit.
The soft-drink giant came out on top of data consultancy Kantar’s annual ranking of the best Christmas ads in the UK this year.
The report surveyed 150 people across the UK, and when given permission, Kantar filmed participants’ reactions to the ads and later used AI to interpret the emotions on their faces, according to Kantar Head of Creative Excellence Lynne Deason. Coca-Cola’s “Holidays are Coming” ad, a 30-second spot featuring onlookers cheering a caravan of Christmas-themed Coca-Cola trucks as they pull into town, ranked in the top 2% for enjoyment and top 4% for ad distinctiveness.
Participants also ranked Christmas ads from Cadbury, Duracell, McDonald’s, and Amazon among the most powerful. McDonald’s clocked in with the funniest ad among UK consumers, and KFC’s spot was ranked as most persuasive.
While some of the same themes in Christmas ads can resonate among both British and American audiences, Christmas ads are particularly special in the UK, Deason said.
“Christmas in the UK is the equivalent of the Super Bowl, so we tend to get more epic, very emotive story ads at this time of year,” she told Marketing Brew in an email. “Whilst there are some of those in the USA during holiday season, there are also quite a few ads [in the US] that are a Christmas/Holiday version of the typical ad you might see through the rest of the year.”
Deason noted another difference, that “Americans are listening out for facts more, so you will see that ads in the USA can be more information or ‘message’ heavy than you’ll see in the UK.”
Many of the same brands ranked high on Kantar’s 2022 Christmas ads survey as well. Last year, Cadbury’s “Secret Santa” ad topped the list. Coca-Cola’s spot ranked as the fifth most-powerful ad among UK consumers.