Its the most wonderful time of the year! That's right folks, Christmas has come once again and with that, more memorable ads. While Christmas is known for good tidings and unity among all, it is also known for memorable marketing and entertainment. So like last time, I picked out ads that can get you into the holiday spirit.
Campbell's Soup
What goes best with the cold weather? For some its hot cocoa, or a warm fire and blankets, and for some, a hot bowl of soup. Campbell's is the top brand when it comes to soup, and their ads show how much they care for their ads to reflect their brand. It starts with a snowman coming inside the house and is given a bowl of soup, as the snowman eats the soup, the snow melts to show a kid smiling as he eats the soup.
Ads around this time of year are usually heartwarming, this one took the warming part literally since soup is supposed to warm you up. It is a cute ad with a simple take on a household name of a product like Campbell's soup.
Coca Cola: The Return of the Trucks
Christmas and Coca Cola go hand in hand with each other. One of the most iconic ads from them was the Christmas trucks from 1996. In this ad from 1999, the trucks return. The ad starts with a grandfather reading to his grandson and his fireplace magically turns into one of the trucks as the grandfather and grandson are magically brought into the truck cab and the line of trucks go around the town and light up the town with lights and Coca Colas as the scene changes to the grandmother turning off the light about the sleeping pair and the Santa on the back of the truck goes shhh as the trucks drive off and he drinks a coke.
Much like the original, this ad captures the same wonder and magic of the holiday. It plays much like the last one, however, thanks to new advancements in digital animation in the span of three years, has added more to the magic when it comes to the fireplace magically turning into one of the trucks. Also like the last one, the town lights up as well as the cokes appearing were a lot smoother than before and adds to the feeling this ad is showing as well. Overall, a good ad that is much like the original, and more.
McDonald's The Snowman
When you think Christmas, you don't usually think of fast food. Well, McDonalds tends to have longer ads for the holidays and they are heartwarming in their own way. This ad starts with a kid walking through the snow pulling a sleigh until she reaches a field and builds a snowman. This snowman looks like Ronald McDonald and just as she finishes, someone taps her shoulder and it turns out to be Ronald. He likes the snowman, but said it's missing something before taking some snow and blowing it into the air as it shows another snowman that looks like the girl and says 'A Friend'.
Much like the runaway ad, this one puts emphasis on togetherness. Its longer than other McDonalds ads that you see any other time of the year, but same can be said for other Christmas ads they have done. It's soft music and slow mood helps get that feeling of a long way traveled and by the end, being with a friend. If it wasn't for Ronald you would think this was a Hallmark ad. A wholesome way that while you know its McDonalds, you aren't advertised food from there. Which is nice this time of year.
Hess Trucks
The Hess Truck is back and its, well, its back. Okay looking back while these are tradition, not many of them are ground breaking outside of a couple. Most of the time it's a new design or gimmick they are using. After the nineties they changed it up a lot more.
The ads for these are usually the same with a couple changes here and there. Most of them had a choir of kids singing a song about the Hess Truck coming back and they talk about the 'new' features of that year's truck. Other ads just has the kids singing as the truck drives around and the features are being shown.
Some take use of CGI at the time which was fitting for the ad and the holiday with fun, toyish, and playful feeling. Others use a mix of both depending on the year. It is a staple each year and hearing that jingle means that the holidays are on the way.
Out of these classics, there is bound to be one to get you into the spirit of the season. The holiday season is meant to spark joy and childhood wonder. So with this article, from me to all of you, have a Merry Christmas and remember to live life and live nostalgic.
i'm sure any kid growing up in the 1990s has that campbell's commercial enraved in their mind, it aired for the longest time, and then that M n M's christmas commercial came along.
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