Brands have already gotten into the Christmas spirit, with the annual avalanche of heart-wrenching TV commercials. Christmas ads this year appear to be very focused on storytelling and on building a subtle emotional connection with the brand.

Here are some of our favorite Christmas commercial hits this year:

1) John Lewis – ‘Man on the Moon’ (UK)

Following a series of heart-warming Christmas ads in recent years, this year’s John Lewis Christmas commercial was unveiled with a lot of expectation. The UK department store’s latest seasonal offering shows a little girl trying to reach the “Man on the Moon”, a magical story about loneliness, altruism and generosity.

2) Sainsbury’s – The Mog Cat (UK)

Although the John Lewis Christmas commercial is one of the most anticipated festive season ads in the UK, this year it might have lost the battle for the best Christmas commercial – to Sainsbury’s. The supermarket brings you a special story which features a CGI version of Mog the cat, the character from the popular children’s book series by author Judith Kerr.

3) El Gordo – The Spanish Christmas Lottery (Spain)

This 3D animated commercial features the story of Justino, a mannequin factory night watchman playing pranks on his daytime colleagues by moving the mannequins into funny situations. He’s really sad, however, when he realizes he’s not part of the factory syndicate which wins the national lottery… until his friends show up with a beautiful surprise.

4) Harrods -The Land of Make Believe (UK)

This year’s Harrods Christmas commercial shows tiny mouse Peter Pumpernickel feeling sad after realizing he’s too small to help in his preparations for Christmas at the London department store. But Santa Claus has other ideas for the little mouse…

5) Edeka – Heim Kommen “Coming Home” (Germany)

And let’s finish with the most emotional yet sad video of the list, offered by German supermarket Edeka. They have chosen to focus on the isolation of the elderly, the same line  John Lewis went in on with their ‘Man On The Moon’ clip. The video has gone viral, and has been viewed more than 15 million times on Youtube!

How do you feel after watching these commercials? For you, what’s the key to a successful Christmas TV commercial?

References: Adweek, Sainsbury’s, La Criatura Creativa, La Vanguardia