Thatchers' First-Ever Christmas Advert Scores the Maximum 5.9 Stars on System1's Test Your Ad

Nov. 06, 2026

Thatchers’ first-ever Christmas advert, Saving Tasting Time, has achieved an Exceptional 5.9-Star Rating, the highest score possible, in System1’s Test Your Ad. Just 1% of ads in System1’s database earn 5 Stars or above.

The result is well ahead of the 3.1-Star average for the Beer, Cider & FMBs category, and marks a festive debut for the family-owned Somerset cider maker, whose first Christmas television campaign was created by Aardman Animations and developed with creative and media agency Bray Leino.

Saving Tasting Time also scored an Exceptional Spike Rating of 1.37 and a Fluency Rating of 89, with both measures above the category average.

System1’s testing found that 65% of viewers felt happiness watching the advert. The most expressed types of happiness were Uplifted and Excitement, two crucial feelings during the festive season. The advert also performed strongly across age and gender groups.

Set at Myrtle Farm, the advert follows Martin Thatcher, a fourth-generation cider maker, as heavy snowfall threatens to keep the tasting team away from the farm’s weekly Friday cider tasting. With a little inspiration from Myrtle the dog, he takes to the skies in Thatchers’ own hot air balloon to bring everyone together.

 

Created at Aardman’s Bristol studios, just over 20 miles from Thatchers farm, the advert combines traditional stop-motion animation and puppetry with CGI. Hundreds of hours of craftsmanship went into the film, from bespoke costumes to hand-built, snow-covered sets recreating Myrtle Farm in miniature. It launched on Monday 2 November across media including ITV, Sky, Netflix and Channel 4.

 

Andrew Tindall, Chief Growth Officer, Advertising at System1 said:

"Thatchers has made one of the best Christmas ads of the year, and it's their first ever Christmas ad. Saving Tasting Time scored 5.9 Stars, the maximum on our scale, putting it in the top 10 most emotional drinks ads we've tested in the past decade. Nearly two thirds of viewers left feeling happy, and nobody displayed a flicker of negativity. It's also proof that consistency compounds creativity; Thatchers partnership with Aardman, the setting at Myrtle Farm, its own people and Myrtle the dog, so every ad builds on the last. Their 2023 ad scored 4.7 Stars, which made it the most effective ad we’d ever tested for an independent beer or cider brand. The new advert has maxed out the scale."

 

Martin Thatcher, Fourth Generation Cider Maker, Thatchers Cider said:

"It’s fantastic to see such a positive response to our first ever Christmas advert. Receiving the highest possible rating from System1 was wonderful news, and we’re delighted that the results reflect the happiness we hoped the advert would bring. Our partnership with Aardman is built on a shared passion for craftsmanship and getting every detail just right, and it’s been brilliant to bring Myrtle Farm and our all-important Friday 12:30 cider tasting to life with a little festive magic.  We hope the advert brings a little extra Christmas cheer to everyone who watches it."