In its list of top Christmas adverts for 2022, System1 said that Asda’s ‘Buddy the Elf’ advert, which incorporated the title character from the Christmas film Elf, was the highest rated, with a maximum score of 5.9 stars.

System1 uses a one-to-five-star scale to predict adverts’ commercial effectiveness measuring emotional response to advertisements and the intensity of that response.

System1 said that this year saw an unprecedented 16 adverts hit five stars, compared with only two in 2021.

Three other adverts also hit the maximum 5.9-star score, with Amazon, Aldi and M&S rounding out the top four on System1’s rankings.

The rest of the top 12 were, in order, Lego, The National Lottery, Disney, Lidl, Barbour, Tesco, Cadbury and Boots in 12th.

Major themes from this year’s adverts were also identified by System1, including a ‘glass half full outlook’, whereby adverts had a optimistic and upbeat tone in contrast to the ongoing cost-of-living crisis.

Other key themes included the use of nostalgia, ‘global storytelling’ and generosity, not extravagance as adverts focused on home and personal connections and acknowledged charity work and purpose.

There was also a use of characters, including recurring characters such as ‘Kevin the Carrot’ from Aldi and new creations such as the Lidl Bear, as well as those borrowed from other mediums such as from Asda.

Jon Evans, chief customer officer at System1, said: “Marketers had a tricky job this Christmas thanks to the cost-of-living crisis and most of them got their ads bang on target.

“We’ve been testing Christmas ads for a decade and we’ve never seen as much five-Star work.

“As we enter recession, it’s really important to maintain a positive presence in people’s minds so they’re more likely to choose your brand when recovery does come. The Christmas ads of 2022 understood that assignment perfectly.”