Considering that Christmas has become a yearly battle between crass consumerism and family values, it’s a little unusual that Christmas commercials are beloved by all. Every holiday season, companies pull out the stops to promote their products with yuletide cheer, competing with each other to make the most money by exploiting the spirit of giving and family-friendly holiday iconography.
But some of these commercials succeed so beautifully at capturing the spirit of the holidays in spite of their capitalistic intentions that they become perennial classics, on par with “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” as mini-television events. These commercials became ingrained in the pop culture consciousness, establishing themselves as classics in-and-of themselves.
Nostalgic Christmas commercials are among our favorite parts of the holidays, perhaps because we’ve grown cynical in an era in which even the season of giving can be commercialized, but probably because regardless of their context, these nostalgic Christmas commercials warm our hearts year after year. Just because it’s a commercial doesn’t mean it can’t be meaningful.
Here we present our picks for The Top 12 Nostalgic Christmas Commercials. Season’s greetings, everybody. Don’t forget to hug your families and go out and buy something.
Slideshow: The Top 12 Nostalgic Christmas Commercials
William Bibbiani is the editor of CraveOnline’s Film Channel and the host of The B-Movies Podcast and The Blue Movies Podcast. Follow him on Twitter at @WilliamBibbiani.
The Top 12 Nostalgic Christmas Commercials
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12. Mac Got a Sega Genesis
According to this classic Christmas commercial from 1993, getting a Sega Genesis for Christmas will make you popular... even with girls! Never mind the idea that buying love is antithetical to the spirit of Christmas, and never mind the fact that this commercial tells your parents - who will have to actually purchase the Sega Genesis for you - that this gift will fill their house with unwanted guests, forever.
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11. The Cingular Gingerbread Men
Steve Buscemi and Norm MacDonald play father/son gingerbread men in this relatively recent commercial, encouraging parents to get their middle-aged bicycle-riding kids a GoPhone for Christmas. Then a human hand rips apart their roof and peeps at Mom, who is screaming in the tub. It's a weird commercial with an off-kilter sense of humor and a great cast.
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10. The Norelco Santa
We don't know why, but it doesn't seem like Christmas until we see Santa Claus sledding downhill on the front attachment of an electric razor. Somehow, Norelco has been milking this simple yet conceptually strange commercial since the 1960s.
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9. A Honey Nut Cheerios Christmas Carol
This classic Christmas commercial shouldn't really work. "But Mr. Scrooge, Honey Nut Cheerios! It's Christmas!" the bumblebee cries, as though it's an ancient yuletide tradition. And unlike Charles Dickens' original tale, Scrooge doesn't even learn a valuable lesson at the end. He just gets a free bowl of delicious cereal. But the performances are great, the atmosphere is rich and the choral rendition of the Cheerios theme song sure sounds Christmas-y.
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8. The Campbell's Soup Snowman
This classic Campbell's soup commercial - in which a snowman eats a bowl of hot chicken noodle and melts away, revealing a chilly young boy inside - doesn't namecheck Christmas specifically, but it perfectly captures the appeal of the company's product during freezing holiday weather. It's a great image and dang it, it really makes you want some soup.
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7. Hallmark Christmas Commercial Epic
In 1993, Hallmark produced a 2 1/2 minute commercial about a young boy waiting for his brother Tom to come home for Christmas. Tom finally emerges while little Johnny is singing "O Holy Night," treating a weepy family to a wholesome duet. "That was the longest day I can remember," an older Johnny claims, proving that he's lived a very charmed life. But for its ambition and old-fashioned Hallmark sentiment, this tearjerker remains a classic.
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6. Holidays Are Coming
Coca Cola has a long-standing history with holiday commercialism, having essentially invented the modern version of Santa Claus to sell soft drinks. They usually go all out for Christmas with CGI polar bears or, in our favorite, this cheerful convoy of light-speckled big rigs spreading yuletide cheer and festive color everywhere they go.
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5. The M&M's Meet Santa Claus
Short, sweet and utterly endearing, this classic Christmas commercial from 1996 finds the CGI M&M mascots meeting Santa Claus. The red M&M faints upon discovering that Santa really exists, and Santa faints upon discovering that anthropomorphic M&M's really exist. A plausible outcome for a memorably absurd situation.
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4. Hershey's Kisses Wish You a Merry Christmas
Not every great Christmas commercial needs a story. This Hershey's Kiss commercial finds a group of chocolate candies ringing like bells to the tune of "We Wish You a Merry Christmas." It's a charming idea if ever there was one, but the kicker is the one Kiss who "breaks character," using its little flag to wipe its brow afterwards. How cute is that?
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3. A Fruity Pebbles Christmas
Cereal commercials are a sinister sort, framing their products as commodities so valuable that everyone wants to steal them. Case in point, Fruity Pebbles, which found Barney Rubble repeatedly conniving Fred Flintstone out of his precious cereal. But on Christmas, Santa Claus shows up to remind us that it's a season of giving, prompting Fred and Barney to finally share a bowl of Pebbles together. It's an unforgettable payoff to years of petty squabbling.
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2. Peter Comes Home for Christmas
This unforgettable Christmas commercial for Folger's coffee has a pretty unusual effect for an advertisement: it makes you cry. A son comes home for a surprise Christmas visit, and wakes his whole family up with the smell of coffee. It's a lovely little story about family reunions and staying warm on chilly winter days, well acted and very well told.
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1. Ice-Skating Ronald McDonald
A group of children finds Ronald McDonald ice-skating on a frozen pond and experience the perfect holiday snow party. But one little boy doesn't know how to ice skate, feeling left out until Ronald McDonald picks him up and makes him feel welcome. It's cute, it's heartwarming, and best of all it has nothing to do with selling a product. McDonald's food never makes a single appearance. It just wishes you a happy holidays from McDonald's, and actually makes the holidays happier. It's the best Christmas commercial ever.
