I've put together 10 - some say even more than just 10 - Christmas-related commercials that are funny. I've wanted to do that for a long time but it was suprisingly difficult. There are not as many really funny Christmas commercials as one might think. There are many thoughtful and reflective ones, some of them are even cheerful, but not really funny. Also, these adverts are not easy to find. Starting with the fact that you have to search for "Christmas commercials" as well as "Holiday commercials", "Santa commercials", "Jingle Bells commercials" etc.
I hope you enjoy my selection. There are some classics, some new ones, some weird ones and some that don't belong in any group. I know that taste is different and humor as well. But after so many calm and contemplative Christmas spots, one needs something that is a little bit louder, a little bit wilder, and a little bit crazier.
Tell me in the comments which one is your #1, I will include your vote in the ranking at the end of this text and below the video to see which commercial people like the most.
These ads are included:
1. Bethesda, "12 Days of Ragemas" for Rage 2 from 2018
2. Capital One, with John Travolta as Santa Claus and Samuel Jackson as an elf from 2020, the actress is Dana Daurey and there are a lot of easter eggs referring to Pupl fiction, starting with the "5 dollar milkshake" to the "Happy Holidays with Cheese" T-shirt referring to the "Royale with Cheese" conversation to the iconic shoeless shuffle "Run, Run Rudolph" to the tune of "You Can Never Tell" Chuck Berry
3. Kmart, "Not A Christmas Commercial" starring Kelly Jenrette from 2014 ("Merry birthday everyone") that came out one week after Labor Day in September, apparently a response to the criticism they had got for launching so early one year before (actually a time when many people buy presents)
4. Heineken, "Holiday troubles" from 2019 with the song "Accidents Will Happen" (1963) performed by Patsy Ann Noble
5. Mercedes-Benz, "Switcheroo" from 2016 for the Winter Event with Santa Claus in his Mercedes AMG GT S (“How else do you think he gets around so fast?”)
6. Dodge, "Big Finish Event" or "Fastest Way to trim a tree" with Walter Belenky as the Charger driver, also Dodge Durange, Dodge Challenger, the song is Shchedryk, an Ukrainian New Year's song by Mykola Leontovych from 1916 that was used by the American heavy metal band Savatage in 1995 in their instrumental piece Christmas Eve/Sarajevo 12/24 that has been later recorded by the Trans-Siberian Orchestra
7. Icelandic Glacial, "Experience the Magic of the Holidays with Icelandic Glacial" from 2016 with Brock O'Hurn and Iskra Lawrence
8. Apple, "Will Ferrell Santa Claus", an iPod switch commercial from 2002
9. Frito Lay, Doritos, Cheetos, "It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year" with Jimmy Falon from 2021
10. Polaroid, "Sumo Wrestlers", Fat Men", "Naked Men" from 1991 ("Jingle Bells")
11. Chevrolet, "Sit on Santa's lap" from 2011 with Nick ("Chevy Santa Commercial")
12. Chevrolet, "St. Nick's Beard" from 2011 ("Chevy Christmas Commercial")
13. Chevrolet, "Deer Fish Hunter" from 2011 (the famous "Hunter meets Santa" commercial)
14. Gloria Perú, "Feliz Navidad!" from 2018
15. Corona Extra, "Feliz Navidad" from 1990 with "O Tannenpalm" instead of "O Tannenbaum" , an iconic holiday ad that has been running untouched for more than 30 years
16. Mulberry, "Miracle" from 2018 - I had to add this one although it's quite long (that's why I put it at the end) and may seem blasphemous at first glance. I wasn't sure about it myself. But then I rewatched it again and again and I saw how amazing the script is, how great the actors are and how the story unfolds getting funnier and more absurd every second. It's actually very intelligent. When you take the last sentence, "Guys, it's just a bag", it may even be seen as a criticism of commercialism and advertising.
Merry Christmas!