John Lewis Emerges as an Early Favourite in Week 1 of the Race
Sleigh bells ring… are you listening? Don’t worry there’s no snow glistening in the lane outside just yet, but the sleigh bells herald the starting gun for the 2025 Race to Christmas. Marketeers up and down the land have now released their most jolly creatives into the world to help us make the difficult decisions about where to spend our hard-earned cash this Christmas. And, they even waited until after Halloween to do it.
of Brits surveyed are already excited about the Christmas season
The Christmas ad line-up for 2025 is truly stacked with the familiar runners, and riders are being joined by some new contenders this year. All in search of winning one of Ipsos’ coveted 12 Awards of Christmas (we assume). Aldi won the grand prize last year with Kevin the Carrot’s action-packed adventure. Can they make it two years in a row?
We’re using the Ipsos Fast Facts tool to ask the UK public for their memories and reactions to all this year’s major Christmas campaigns every week throughout the festive season. The data for week 1 is already here with 14 campaigns being tracked so far and more to follow!
51% of Brits surveyed are already excited about the Christmas season, while 14% classified themselves as ‘Bah Humbug’ at this early stage. Well, we’re excited and hope you are too. So, let’s find out who came out of the blocks fastest in the 2025 Race to Christmas.
A legacy of Christmas excellence
At this early stage in the race you may not be surprised to discover that the nation’s favourite ad so far has come from John Lewis, with 22% of people who have seen a Christmas ad spontaneously mentioning it as their favourite. Conversely, 9% of people mentioned it as their least favourite ad.
The legacy of excellence that the brand has in their advertising during the festive season means people are always on the lookout for their latest offering are ready to offer their opinion. This year’s ad tells the story of a father and son, struggling to communicate but brought together by the gift of music at Christmas. Whether that left your heart warmed ultimately comes down to whether you empathise with the scenario played out on screen.
Perhaps you felt closer to last year’s story about two sisters and the search for the perfect gift? Ipsos ad testing constantly illustrates that personal empathy amplifies the impact of advertising on the individual. But whether you see the events in the ad reflected in your own life or not, we can all understand the story being told and connect it back to the festive season and the offer from the John Lewis brand itself.
spontaneously mentioned John Lewis' ad as their favourite
agreed that the Aldi teaser ad was 'for people like me'
We asked those who recognised each ad whether they felt the ad was ‘for people like me’. Perhaps unsurprisingly the return of Aldi’s beloved Christmas mascot Kevin the Carrot came top here. 52% agreed his Love Actually style marriage teaser was ‘for people like me’. This was closely followed by the return of M&S and Dawn French at 50%, with an ad that sees Dawn and her fairy partner stuck in traffic. Don’t panic, driving home for Christmas by Chris Rea is present, as is Mr Tom Kerridge and his pork and mushroom paté.
We’ll have more to say about the food choices in this year’s ads in the coming weeks. But, for now, what is clear is that continuity, familiarity and a long-term approach to Christmas storytelling is really helping these brands connect to the audience.
Christmas is about the memories
None of the ads mentioned above is currently the most recognised ad after the first week. The honour currently falls to ASDA, who have already achieved 40% recognition by trying to get the grinch to enjoy Christmas. Our favourite moment was when the grinch spots the ASDA sign from a distance and gravitates towards it because he ‘likes the colour’.
We know that famous characters can help with memorability and so it has proved here. Interestingly, once you factor in brand linkage (the audience's ability to spontaneously link the ad to the brand), branded recognition is very even across a number of the ads released so far.
of respondents recognised the ASDA ad from de-branded stills
ASDA scores 23% for branded recognition and was actually pipped on this metric by Aldi’s Kevin teaser (24%), M&S (25%) and this year’s ‘Holidays are coming’ ad from Coca-Cola (25%). Clearly the race couldn’t be tighter at this early stage and we’re here for it. We’d expect branded recognition to grow in the coming weeks and shift as more ads come into the race.
The beginning of an uplifting festive season
This year’s set of Christmas ads are already asking us to contemplate some big existential questions. What is your relationship like with your father? Has nostalgia gone too far? Is Christmas really all about the food? And our personal favourite we’ve heard so far, is that what Puss in Boots really looks like, isn’t he Spanish?
Coca-Cola have used AI to make their holiday ad again this year, depicting a world full of animals and snow but seemingly devoid of humans. Does the AI know something we don’t about the future? This hasn’t stopped the Coca-Cola ad getting the highest score so far for ‘made me feel good about the brand’ (57%). Because ultimately, the public may not be thinking about this as deeply as we are. They have seen the ad and it made them feel something - warmth, joy, love…festive.
Sitting this week and watching a collection of over 30 Christmas ads released so far, it was hard not to feel uplifted by the experience. There is something emotionally cathartic about the portrayal of Christmas in our marketing efforts. A vision of Christmas for us all to aspire to.
agreed that the Coca-Cola ad 'made me feel good about the brand'
In the coming weeks all these ads with fill our TV screens one after another and that vision will crystalise into action for consumers up and down the country. Motivated by the desire to make Christmas for themselves and their love ones a great memory to last a lifetime. That is the power of great advertising and the unique power of advertising during the festive season. And, we couldn’t be more excited to see that story unfold. We hope you’ll continue to join us in our ongoing coverage of the Race to Christmas, but, even if you don’t, let me be the first to say Merry Christmas from all of us here at Ipsos, from the bottom of our hearts.
Each week we'll be sharing the latest race insights, reporting on which brand is leading the way and driving impact with their festive campaigns. Check back here for weekly updates, and get in contact if you'd like to discuss this further with the team.
Sources
Source: Ipsos Fast Facts. Week 1 data: n= 300, UK Nat rep sample, fielded on 7th November 2025.
