Ahh. The holiday season. When festive TV commercials begin as soon as we put away our Halloween costumes and continue on until the New Year.
As a kid, we always paid close attention to TV commercials. This was how we got the details on the best holiday loot back before the Internet. Every year companies pull out all the stops on their seasonal sales pitches with great jingles, famous spokespeople and amazing animations. It is always a season to remember.
This year, we thought we’d ask the OOHligans to tell us about the holiday TV commercials for which they have the fondest memories. Relive our past — and maybe yours, too — with a look at some commercials of yesteryear.
Brad Luttrell
I still to this day remember hearing this song and stopping what I was doing to turn my attention to the television. I don't know that any board game has ever had a more dramatic appeal than an 80s hair ballad singing about the Crossfire, especially when paired with the dramatic lighting and excessive use of leather. I loved this commercial, and always thought I would love the game. Sadly I never got caught up in the Crossfire. Instead I got "Sorry!" which is exactly how I still feel about the whole situation.
IMBED VIDEO HERE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rCwn1NTK-50&feature=youtu.be
Arica Johnson
I always loved the Hershey Kisses ‘Bells’ commercial. It was so clever, but yet so simply done. It doesn't try to sell the product with description or by showing people eating it, they just want to wish you a Merry Christmas. It was always so memorable because it was classy to me. I love the part at the end when one of the Kisses wipes his forehead and says ‘phew.’ It's in the details. I always wanted to be the person that thought of that idea. ‘WHY DIDN'T I THINK OF THAT!?’ – 6-year-old me.
Family members always put Kisses in my stocking and stuff. But personally, I don't like them. I just really enjoyed the commercial.
IMBED VIDEO HERE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fr9g0QkppqU&feature=youtu.be
Chris Davis
It may not be holiday, but it ran in winter: The Campbell’s soup snowman commercial. It's certainly a tug at the heartstrings, but I love it because it so clearly illustrates my youth; coming inside from a cold day in the snow, and warming up at the fireplace with a warm bowl of chicken noodle soup.
IMBED VIDEO HERE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HoeKvqIRyIs&feature=youtu.be
Kim Mays
I’ve always loved the old-school Norelco commercial where Santa is riding around in the head of an electric razor. It had the feel of all those familiar stop-motion holiday cartoons—remember Rudolph, The Year Without A Santa, or Santa Claus Is Coming to Town? I loved those cartoons, so it makes sense that I loved this commercial. I have never owned, nor bought a Norelco electric razor, though. So I’m not sure that it was truly effective. But it was certainly memorable!
IMBED VIDEO HERE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=718DpmQrPbg&feature=youtu.be
Katie Dobson
One of my favorite holiday commercials is the new Some Day at Christmas commercial for Apple. This ad is so tastefully done and so memorable. It catches your attention by how seemingly plotless and un-branded it is. It doesn't say, "HEY BUY A MAC." The very first time I saw it, I was absolutely mesmerized, and also confused. During the whole commercial I was like "What is this? What is this advertising?" It seems like just beautiful entertainment, rather than an advertisement, but that’s why it's powerful.
It doesn't feel like a formal performance. It's raw, emotional, and like you're getting a glimpse in their life, which is strengthened by the varying shots through windows, closeups of the kids, and the fact that it's shot by hand, unstable and shaky.
It felt like Apple was saying, "From our family to yours, Merry Christmas," here's a beautiful custom song. You can actually buy the collaboration song on iTunes. It goes above an ad, and feels like art, a commissioned collaboration, that ties right back into their brand with iTunes. Nowhere in the actual ad did they say "song available on iTunes," when they easily could have. They kept it as uncommercialized as possible. And that's why it's a great Christmas ad.
IMBED VIDEO HERE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHIJAnZpy0c