The Best (& Worst) Holiday Ads of Last Year

If you ask me, these MASSIVE, globally recognized brands completely missed the mark with their ads in 2024.

Yupppp, in this blog, I’m sharing 3 of the WORST ad campaigns I’ve seen lately…

Along with 3 of my favorite campaigns from the recent holiday season – why I loved them, what they got right and how you can replicate it in your own marketing. 

Hey, Posse! What’s up? It’s Alex. And I’m excited about this video because I LOVEEEEE to analyze the marketing I see “in the wild”…

Whether that’s billboards, flyers, facebook ads, full-blown tv commercials or even the packaging in the supermarket…

And then, of course, sharing with YOU my opinions on why I think it works… or doesn’t work.

I’ve been in the marketing industry for 16 years, and I created this channel to teach you everything I’ve learned along the way…

So if that sounds good to you, go ahead and subscribe to my newsletter now!

Alright, let’s start this video off on a HIGH note and take a look at a few of my favorite holiday campaigns from 2024.

There is one thing all of these campaigns have in common, I wonder if you can catch it… 

Starting with… 

#1 – OLIPOP 

Okay, first up Olipop. The health prebiotic drink has really picked up popularity over the last couple of years. 

Now, I’ve always been a fan of Olipop’s branding – it’s got a fun yet classic & nostalgic vibe to it. 

Their USP is that they are a “new kind of soda” and they incorporate that into their branding by sharing “new spins on old classics.”…

Like THIS holiday ad, which features two yetis in stop-motion style video – just like the old classic stockmotion Christmas shows Ruloph and Santa Clause Is Coming To Town…

If you’re old enough to remember this, you’ll immediately love it. Like I did.

This is SO ON BRAND for Olipop – who like I said, has always maintained a very classic nostalgic vibe to it. 

Now the ad itself was super cute with the two yetis accidentally scaring all of the townsfolk while they try to enjoy winter activities – like ice skating and caroling. 

And of course, the ads ends with the yetis apologizing with a bag of Olipop and then they are no longer seen as scary and accepted for who they are. 

But the reason Olipop made it into my favorites isn’t necessarily because of THIS ad in particular – even though I do think it’s cute and very on-brand… 

What they really did so well was create an entire holiday CAMPAIGN around these Christmas yetis. 

Nearly all of their content throughout the holiday season was themed with the yetis. 

They even put the two Yetis – who they obviously named “Oli” and “Pop” – on the front of two of their popular drinks. The red and the green ones, obviously. 

They came up with a quiz so you could tell if you’re an “Oli” or a “Pop” lol… I’m definitely POP…

AND they even posted some fun holiday-themed drinks featuring their seasonal Olipop. 

Of course, a lot of their messaging for this campaign was focused on getting these limited-edition cans… 

But the marketing was so much more than that…

The reason this campaign was a winner in my book is because I love how they turned ONE AD into an entire experience for their fans. 

Something they can repeat over and over again every Holiday season. It’s something their fans can look forward to.

THIS is smart marketing. It’s not thinking about what will work and bring in more sales in the short term.

It’s about zooming out, thinking about your customer’s EXPERIENCE and how you can maximize that positive brand association to get them to fall in love with your product and your brand ALL  year round.

Alright, next up… 

#2 – PAPAYA REUSABLES

Papaya is another brand I love. The company started as a re-usable products company, but when their reusable paper towel product IMMEDIATELY went viral, they shifted their focus to just that. 

They have created a name for themselves with video ads of a woman going around her house cleaning up everyday spills and messes with her papaya, rinsing it out, hanging it up to dry…

All while cracking jokes and hilariously educating everyone about how they’ve been clean doing it wrong.

Usually, with a few well-placed curse words sprinkled throughout. 

And their holiday ads were no different… 

Now obviously this approach wouldn’t work for everyone. But this is very on brand for Papaya. 

But again, the reason Papaya made my list isn’t because they dressed someone up as cursing Mrs. Clause and filmed a funny video…

Just like Olipop… Papaya is focused on creating a brand experience. 

One quick scroll through their organic social media page and you can see how much themed holiday content they posted. 

They are all about ENTERTAINING their audience. 

Cleaning a house doesn’t feel fun. It feels like a chore. 

So something Papaya does really well is address this head-on with their messaging – through humor – WHILE also offering up a simpler and less wasteful solution. 

From going out on the streets and interviewing people, to filming parodies, and just having FUN with their content. 

But at the end of the day, it is a brand that was founded on reducing waste and helping the environment. So that still stays top of mind in all their messaging. 

They are passionate about what they do and it really SHOWS. This is the type of advertising that is irresistible to the right people. 

And this is why I always talk about the importance of polarity. 

Do NOT try to be for everyone. Be YOU and your people will come to you.

They are clearly doing something right! 

Alright, just one more brand I want to highlight before I go into my WORST ad picks of 2024….

#3 – SHINER BEER

A humble beer from a local Texas brewery that has grown in popularity over the years and is now available all over the US. 

Like Olipop, last year, Shiner Beer released its FIRST HOLIDAY CAMPAIGN EVER for its seasonal drink: Shiner’s Holiday Cheer. 

The debut ad shows two good old Texas boys wrapping up a long day on the ranch. One man pulls out two Shiner Holiday Cheers from the cooler. And they sit back to enjoy their hard work… which was of course, putting up all those beautiful Christmas lights! No one speaks in this ad btw – not even a voiceover. 

This is a great example of true storytelling, where you SHOW, don’t TELL. 

They are showing you the experience of an average, everyday person who drinks Holiday Cheer. 

It’s very Texas. It’s tough but quiet. They aren’t loud or pushy or trying to convince you why you should drink their beer. 

It has a very “if you know, you know” vibe to it. It feels exclusive. Like a secret beer club. No explanation is needed because you either get it, or you don’t.  

They even sell merch “It’s a Texas thing”. 

I’m not a cowboy, and they have ME feeling FOMO. I want to join this club!! And I don’t even drink beer because I’m celiac.

But again, they don’t just stop with this one great ad…

They blow up ALL of their channels with content about Holiday Cheer, a spin on Twas the night before Christmas, funny memes making fun of themselves…

And, they even PRIMED their audience that Holiday Cheer was coming after Halloween. 

This is a great example of a brand that GETS it.

And have you noticed what all THREE Of these brands have in common in their advertising? They know how to build a loyal community and create an EXPERIENCE… 

Now, you might be asking, “How on Earth are you supposed to replicate what THEY did if you’re operating with a small marketing budget?”

What all these ad campaigns taught us is that LESS is actually MORE when you focus on the things that really matter. 

Great sales are not always about flashing some hugely discounted offer, using buzzwords, or running a million ads… 

You’ll notice NONE of the brands I just mentioned did any of that. 

Great sales often come down to one thing – CREATING CONNECTION. 

Ask yourself – how can you go deep before you go wide?

How can you create an experience with your brand – so every touchpoint feels right? So that every touchpoint gives that “if you know, you know” vibe?

How can you make your audience feel connected with your brand? What is the FEELING you want your brand + messaging to deliver?

For Olipop it was nostalgia. 

For Papaya it was relatability and humor. 

For Shiner it was this feeling of belonging.  

Focus on your brand experience FIRST and create everything from there. 

Alright…

Now are you ready to dive into some brands that I think REALLY lost sight of that truth in 2024?

Starting with Ad Fail #1… 

FAIL #1: Coca-Cola 

Coca-Cola has been running the same classic “Holidays are Coming” for over 30 years…

Their branding has always focused on creating this sense of togetherness – bringing people together, and accepting one another unconditionally.

Like Olipop, they’ve always had that feel-good nostalgic vibe, right?

For decades, authenticity and connection have been the message at the heart of Coca-Cola’s branding. Even today, their tagline is ‘Real magic’…

Well, they couldn’t have missed the mark more when they decided to release a  very NOT REAL, 100% AI-generated version of their classic “Holidays are Coming” ad… 

And, well, people were outraged. 

People did not like it one bit… 

• “The irony of the real magic tagline at the end of a fake commercial.”
• “Coming from a billion-dollar company like coca-cola this is an AI embarrassment.”
• “I bought a Pepsi today because of this ad”
• “Nothing like celebrating the spirit of Christmas with the most soulless commercial possible.” 
• “This is probably the worst choice coca cola could have made.”
• “I don’t have Pepsi, is Coke okay?…. No”

And on and on it goes. 

And as if it’s not enough that Coca-Cola basically went AGAINST their own brand values to make this ad; they weren’t even diligent enough to catch the major spelling mistake in the beginning of the ad.

The whole thing feels rushed, sloppy and not at all authentic. 

In the rush to get ahead with AI technology, Coca-Cola totally misread and misunderstood what their audience values MOST and single-handedly flushed their legacy down the toilet. 

The only positive point Coca-Cola gets for this ad is DISCLOSING that this was created by AI (as if we couldn’t tell.)

Alright the next Ad fail on the list…

FAIL #2 – Bumble 

Now, this wasn’t a Holiday Ad like the others, but it was such a major fail last year from a brand I used to love, so I had to include it… 

Bumble is a dating app founded by women for women— similar to other dating apps like Tinder, but there was one key difference: Women have to make the first move.

It was a brand that empowered women and promoted safe & healthy connections. It grew in popularity quickly — gaining a positive name for itself in the dating industry… 

UNTIL they launched their anti-celibacy campaign to introduce the ‘new’ bumble.

Now the video ad has since been deleted.

But the ad was of a woman who swears off intimacy and joins a convent. 

When a handsome gardener catches her eye, she breaks her vow of celibacy and hops onto Bumble, finding salvation in the dating app… (please)

To go along with their video ad, they also created billboard ads with phrases like…

 “You know full well a vow of celibacy is not the answer.”And “Thou shalt not give up on dating and become a nun”. 

Now, bumble’s intention with these ads was to be playful. 

But for the app that was founded on empowering and proving a safe space for women to date and make connections…

They totally missed the mark with this message. 

Many people viewed the campaign as promoting casual sex and hook-up culture as “cool” – and anyone who is celibate as “not cool.” 

This marginalizes a major part of their community who choose celibacy for a variety of reasons. 

Yeah, not great for a brand that presents itself as a voice that stands up for women’s right to exercise personal choice. 

Bumble totally misread what their audience values most. 

The response from their community was so negative that Bumble withdrew the ads and even issued an apology statement. 

This is a great example of trying too hard to be funny or witty.  

Never sacrifice the integrity of your brand or the loyalty of your community for something you THINK might get a few laughs. 

Alright, this next fail REALLY PAINS me to talk about… because I’m a huge fan of this brand…

FAIL #3 – Apple

Another example of a mega brand missing the mark by valuing AI profits over human experience. 

Ugggghhhh Apple! Don’t do me like this. 

Apple is in hot water in my books for TWO of the ads it released last year.

The first ad came out a couple of months before Christmas to promote their Apple Intelligence system. There were several ads in this campaign, but I’m just going to show you the one I cringe at the hardest… 

This ad showcases a stereotypical “slacker” in the workplace. Goofing off and wasting time.  Putting in bare minimum effort – no actually, he hasn’t done a THING all day. 

Then he writes a cringe email to his boss, presses “professional,” and you watch as Apple Intelligence turns him into a “genius”. 

Now, what do you think Apple is trying to communicate with this ad? Sure, maybe they’re trying to be a bit funny. 

But the overall message, to me, communicates, “Apple products will make you look and sound impressive so you don’t have to think, try or really do anything at all. You can be slimy and dishonest and lazy, and that’s all okay!”

Honestly, it’s kind of insulting to the intelligence of its fanbase. Who are mostly high-achieving professionals and creatives… 

Now, as bad as that is…

There is one more Apple fail from last year, and it’s definitely worse.

Because in it, Apple is LITERALLY CRUSHING culture as we know it…

Including a TV, record player, piano, trumpet, guitar, cameras, a typewriter, books, paint cans and tubes, and an arcade game machine…

And replacing it with technology. 

Now of course this ad was MEANT to communicate all of the things you can do with this iPad—watch tv, read, write, create art, create music, etc. 

But the imagery of technology destroying everything that makes the human experience… human…  feels like the exact OPPOSITE of everything Apple is supposed to stand for. 

Which is creativity!

BIG thinking, BIG dreaming and freedom of expression. 

Do you remember the absolutely ICONIC “1984” commercial?

It has gone down in history as one of the best ads EVER. 

It was about PREVENTING humans from being mindless, brainwashed, conformists in an industrial world. 

And THAT is why people love Apple. 

This is another example of a brand sacrificing the VALUES of their customers in a messy race to try to package and sell AI to the masses. Yuck. 

So if you learned ANYTHING from this video, I hope it’s that your brand’s messaging should ALWAYS be centered around the core values of you + your customers. 

And if you need help figuring all of this out…

Like what are your values, how you incorporate that into your messaging, and how you create a loyal fanbase…

Then make sure you check out my Brand Voice Program – the Posse Eye!

Where I’ll take you through my proprietary branding process from start to finish. 

You can learn more about that by clicking this link here.

I’ll see you next week with a new blog. Until then, I’m Alex. Ciao for now!

Watch This Instead