SCOTTSDALE, AZ – December 3, 2025 – Disney’s “Best Christmas Ever” has been named North America’s most emotionally engaging holiday ad for 2025, according to new data from DAIVID.
The creative data provider identified the festive campaigns that generated the most intense positive emotions among consumers using its AI-powered creative testing platform.
Top of DAIVID’s Yuletide ranking is Disney’s ad, which tells the story of a little girl whose doodle comes to life after Santa mistakes her drawing for a Christmas wish. Almost six in 10 viewers had an intense positive reaction to the ad.
Directed by Oscar winner Taika Waititi, the film generated more than twice the intense feelings of adoration (+169%), nostalgia (+149%), warmth (+125%) and joy (+115%) than the average U.S ad.
That put it just ahead of two ads for auto brands: Chevrolet’s “Memory Lane” (below) and Subaru’s “Support Charities Like Make-A-Wish When You Get a New Subaru” in second and third places respectively.
Holiday campaigns from Publix and Lego make up the rest of the top 5. Other brands to feature in DAIVID’s top 10 include Real Canadian Superstore, Gap, Walmart and Uber. Brands that just missed out include Lexus (11th), Lincoln (12th), Maybelline (14th) and Facebook (15th).
Top 10 Most Emotionally Engaging North American Holiday Ads 2025 – DAIVID
(click campaign titles to watch ads)
Rank | Brand | Campaign | % of viewers likely to feel intense positive emotions |
|---|---|---|---|
1. | Disney | “Best Christmas Ever” | 58.2% |
2. | Chevrolet | “Memory Lane” | 57.5% |
3. | Subaru | “Support Charities Like Make-A-Wish When You Get a New Subaru” | 56.5% |
4. | Publix | “Merry Birthday from Publix” | 55.6% |
5. | Lego | “Is It Play You’re Looking For?” | 55.0% |
6. | Real Canadian Superstore | “Bringing the Magic of the Holidays with the Moose” | 54.4% |
7. | Teleflora | “The Boy And The Bot” | 54.2% |
8. | Gap | “Give Your Gift” | 53.7% |
9. | Walmart | “WhoKnewVille – Top Brand Gifts” | 53.5% |
=10. | Crayola | “Blue Christmas” | 53.4% |
=10. | Uber | “An Uber Holiday Story” | 53.4% |
Ian Forrester, CEO and founder at DAIVID, said: “This year’s holiday ads set a high bar, but Disney truly stood out. ‘Best Christmas Ever’ captured the hearts of American viewers at a level we rarely see – driving off-the-charts feelings of adoration, nostalgia, warmth and joy. It’s a powerful example of how emotionally resonant storytelling can rise above the noise during one of the most competitive seasons for advertisers.
“We also saw strong performances from Chevrolet, Subaru, Publix and Uber, proving that brands who lean into long-form, authentic human stories are getting cut-through this holiday period. It was also great to see Real Canadian in our top 10, with an ad that generated twice the levels of warmth and gratitude as the average ad.”