Why nostalgia is dominating Christmas adverts
The Notebook, where the City’s movers and shakers have their say. Today it’s Ogilvy’s Amelia Torode
For those involved in UK advertising, Christmas is our Super Bowl, when ads become central to popular culture. Mishandle your Christmas advertising and you risk derailing the entire year’s revenue. When it comes to Christmas advertising, I believe nostalgia reigns supreme – but this year it manifested in fascinating and different ways:
Nostalgia + technology: There’s been considerable debate about AI transforming advertising for better or worse. This year, Coca-Cola remade their iconic “Holidays Are Coming” ad entirely using AI, requiring 70,000 prompts. When viewers were told it was AI-generated, they reportedly disliked it; when they weren’t informed, they loved it and it aced all testing metrics.
Nostalgia + subversion: Save The Children hijacked that famous Coke truck aesthetic, employing the same visual language of snowy landscapes and twinkling lights. But when the convoy stops, we discover the trucks are packed with aid for children in conflict zones. Powerful, hard-hitting and creatively bold.
Nostalgia + humour: Google Pixel’s Christmas ad was made by WPP where I work (though not by me) and shot outside our South Bank offices. The spot reunites Thomas Brodie-Sangster and Martine McCutcheon from Love Actually in the present day. It’s funny, meta and self-aware, with Brodie-Sangster breaking the fourth wall to acknowledge how much fans love seeing him at Christmas, before revealing their real interest is in the phone’s impressive zoom capabilities.
Nostalgia + craft: Finally, Sainsbury’s festive offering sees a return of the much-loved children’s character the BFG alongside a real-life Sainsbury’s colleague, following last year’s bumper Christmas which saw hourly paid staff receive a five per cent payrise. Great to see how fantasy and reality integrate together into a deeper layer of seasonal storytelling.
Briefs for next Christmas’s campaigns often begin the moment teams return from holiday. In a few weeks, Christmas 2026 advertising creative ideas will already be taking shape.
No AI for Spotify
Spotify Wrapped has dropped. This yearly personalised listening report transforms your data from the past 12 months into engaging charts, rankings and shareable graphics, a highlight reel of your listening habits benchmarked globally. After facing criticism last year for over-relying on AI and losing the human touch, Spotify pivoted to nostalgic mixtape culture from the 1990s and early 2000s. Despite being a digital app, they aimed for something “more handmade and a bit more messy by design… to feel fresh and human.” The result? Data wrapped in analogue warmth and community. A lesson for all of us.
The house by the Thames
Gillian Tindall, the London-based historian and author, died recently. She wrote many remarkable books. One that I loved traced Bankside’s history through the inhabitants of a 450-year-old house nestled between The Globe Theatre and Tate Modern. I work nearby, and at lunchtime often walk down to gaze at “The House By The Thames”, reflecting on the coal merchants, watermen, lightermen, artists and creatives who once lived and worked where I do now. The house is beautiful, the book astonishing. Both serve as reminders of the London layers that surround us all.
Crisp winter mornings at Brockwell Lido, sun sparkling on the blue water, temperatures hitting single digits, that’s pure happiness. The tingle, shock and exhilaration of cold water swimming never vanishes, no matter how often you plunge. I skip the wetsuit and swimming socks but never forget my trusty woolly hat. Currently sporting one lovingly made by Finnish grannies from Myssyfarmi, though I’ll soon switch to my festive Christmas Pudding hat. Wave if you spot me in the water!
Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge? Where is the knowledge we have lost in information?
TS Eliot, The Rock (1934)
I am fascinated by the burgeoning world of influencers and creators. It’s an exciting time to be in brands and marketing as we’re witnessing a fundamental shift in the power axis of creativity, opening up unprecedented avenues of commercial growth. To stay current with this evolving landscape, I recommend listening to The Colin and Samir Show podcast, which has become the creator economy’s unofficial pulse check. Their show offers a backstage pass into this rapidly transforming industry, featuring candid conversations with the biggest names and emerging voices. With creators becoming brands and brands needing creators, the lines between entertainment, entrepreneurship, and marketing are beautifully blurred. This convergence represents one of the most dynamic and democratising forces in modern business and creative expression.
Amelia Torode is group head of strategy at Ogilvy UK