System1: Consistency is Cracking Christmas

Nov. 11, 2025

New emotional response data from System1’s Test Your Ad platform and Competitive Edge database shows that this year’s festive ad frontrunners are leaning into characters, consistency, and cultural nostalgia.

2025 is shaping up to be the most competitive and consistent Christmas yet, with early airers averaging a strong 4.6-Star Rating. Leading the pack is Amazon’s re-air of "Joy Ride", returning with an impressive 5.9 Stars. Heathrow has rekindled the magic of its beloved Bears from 2016, while Boots is priming itself for long-term success with the introduction of "Puss in Boots" as a character fluent device that could anchor future campaigns. It’s a winning strategy also powering Aldi’s success, as Kevin the Carrot continues his decade-long run of festive fame and helps the supermarket achieve a record score for a 10s teaser.

Each year, System1 tests every Christmas ad through its Test Your Ad platform, capturing real consumer emotional responses to predict commercial impact. Every ad is scored on a 1.0-Star to 5.9-Star scale, reflecting its long-term brand-building potential. Only around 1% of all ads reach the coveted 5-Star mark across the year. However, Christmas consistently delivers some of the most emotionally powerful and effective advertising.

Jon Evans, Chief Customer Officer at System1 and host of Uncensored CMO said:

"It’s great to see so many brands leaning into what actually works. Bring back the winners, use the characters people love, tap into culture and emotion, it’s not rocket science. Kevin the Carrot turning 10 and still smashing it with our highest ever 10-second score says it all. Boots investing in a fluent brand character is a smart move too. And Barbour is showing the fashion crowd how to stand out with nostalgia and humour, teaming up with Aardman for the third year running. We’ve been banging the drum for consistency for years. It works and it’s brilliant to see brands proving it – that’s the real Christmas magic."

 

2025 Early Christmas Ad Rankings (by Star Rating, which predicts long-term brand-building potential).

To highlight the commercial significance of this year’s results, System1 has also included an uplift versus category benchmark, revealing how brands are outperforming their sectors and gaining a true competitive edge this festive season.

• Amazon “Joy Ride” – 5.9 Stars | Uplift versus retail category +3.1 Stars
• Coca-Cola “Holidays Are Coming” – 5.9 Stars | Uplift versus soft drinks category +2.8 Stars
• Heathrow & St Luke’s “Must Be Love” – 5.9 Stars | Uplift versus travel category +2.6 Stars
• Marks & Spencer “Traffic Jamming” – 5.9 Stars | Uplift versus supermarket category +2.5 Stars
• Aldi & McCann “The Proposal” – 5.8 Stars | Uplift versus supermarket category +2.4 Stars
• Barbour & Aardman “Wallace & Gromit x Barbour” – 5.8 Stars | Uplift versus fashion category +3.2 Stars
• Pandora & Roman Coppola “Be Love” – 5.4 Stars | Uplift versus fashion category +2.8 Stars
• Lidl “More to Value this Christmas” – 5.4 Stars | Uplift versus supermarket category +2 Stars
• Sainsbury’s & New Commercial Arts “The Unexpected Guest” – 5.3 Stars | Uplift versus supermarket category +1.9 Stars
• Boots & The Pharm “Puss in Boots” – 5.2 Stars | Uplift versus chemists & opticians’ category +2.3 Stars