Cadbury’s ‘Secret Santa’ campaign involves a poster with a QR code that allows consumers to mail Dairy Milk chocolate bars anonymously to friends and family.

Kantar said that the advert had its highest rating since 2019, performing strongly on advertising effectiveness metrics such as branding, brand difference, meaningfulness and long-term brand building potential.

People felt it best celebrated the joy of Christmas in 2022, according to Kantar, and was appropriate for the cost-of-living crisis.

The findings are based on feedback from over 3,750 consumers and facial recognition technology to assess people’s emotional responses.

Other successful adverts for Christmas 2022 identified by Kantar included Asda’s ‘Have your Elf a Merry Christmas’ campaign featuring Buddy, the main character from the Christmas film Elf, which scored in the top 3% of UK adverts for making people smile.

Aldi scored in the top 5% of all ads tested for humour for its Home Alone-themed advert.

Lynne Deason, head of creative excellence at Kantar UK, said: “Our research found that by and large brands got the balance right. Ads were more enjoyable this year than last and created a higher feel-good factor, giving a much-needed boost to the people of Britain.

“Brands generally steered clear of messaging around spending or excess and instead drew on the true meaning of Christmas – togetherness, giving and joy – which was the right way to go. 

“Cadbury’s Secret Santa campaign cleverly tapped into themes of generosity and kindness with a populist concept that everyone can engage with, while capturing the essence of the much-loved brand.”