System1 and ITV have unveiled the UK’s top-performing ads of 2024, ranked by emotional resonance, category distinction, and unique creative elements such as humour and AI innovation. Save the Children, in collaboration with Aardman Studios, set a new benchmark for category distinction with a 5.9 Star Rating for their Christmas campaign, far surpassing the 1-Star charity sector average. Meanwhile, Cadbury’s re-airing of Mum’s Birthday to celebrate 200 years of the brand achieved the highest happiness score of the year, challenging the traditional dominance of Christmas ads.
While Christmas campaigns made up 22% of the 5-Star ads in System1’s Premium database, the majority of top performers (78%) emerged throughout the year. These ads stood out not just for their emotional resonance, but also for their cultural relevance, short-term sales potential, and creative originality.
In total, 128 ads earned 5-Star ratings in 2024—a 32% increase from the previous year—yet the overall industry performance remained stable, with the average score sitting within the 2-Star range. System1’s Spike Rating, measuring short-term sales potential, showed similar consistency.
These findings underscore the growing influence of creativity in pushing boundaries and the ongoing opportunities for innovation across the advertising industry.
The UK’s Nation’s Favourite Ads 2024
Each January, System1 and ITV celebrate standout campaigns from System1’s Premium Database of over 150,000 ads, highlighting emotional impact and long-term brand potential. For 2024, Nation’s Favourite Ads focuses on key moments that captured national attention—such as Christmas, the Euros, and category highlights—spotlighting brands that delivered emotionally engaging work, excelled on key metrics beyond Star-Rating, and outperformed their category.
1. Category Stand Out
· Save the Children and Aardman Studios – “The Knit Before Christmas”
· 5.9 Star Rating versus the charity category average of 1.7 Stars
2. Commitment to Positive Change & Integration of AI
· Dove and SOKO – “The Code”
· 4.6 Star Rating
Dove’s ongoing Real Beauty campaign, launched in 2004, continues to challenge unrealistic beauty standards. In a world increasingly shaped by AI-generated perfection, “The Code” underscores Dove’s mission to celebrate real beauty with exceptional execution and a timeless brand message.
3. Returning Advertiser
· Jammie Dodgers and McCann Manchester – “Jam-Packed with Mischief”
· 4.6 Star Rating
Returning to screens after over a decade, Jammie Dodgers embraced their unique brand personality to shine in a competitive market. By adhering to key principles from System1 and ITV’s Break Through research, they stood out in a category where new advertisers typically score just 2.4 Stars.
4. Most Emotionally Dynamic
· British Airways and Uncommon – “May we Haveth One’s Attention”
· 3.0 Star Rating
British Airways’ onboard safety video sparked a remarkable response, achieving the highest emotional dynamism of 2024. This means consumer emotions shifted the most throughout the 5 minutes, a significant achievement for a typically functional and disengaging category.
5. Highest % Happiness
· Cadbury and VCCP – “Yours for 200 Years”
· 5.9 Star Rating
Celebrating 200 years of brand loyalty, Cadbury re-aired their 2018 campaign Mum’s Birthday, achieving an outstanding 74% happiness score—the highest of 2024.
6. Most Disgusting
· Pot Noodle and Adam&eveDDB – “Nothing Satisfies like a Pot Noodle”
· 1.69 Spike Rating
Pot Noodle embraced the rare emotion of disgust (30%) to create one of the spikiest campaigns of the year, proving that any emotion can be powerful when used effectively.
7. Christmas Champion
· Aldi and McCann – “Get into the Christmas Spirit with Kevin the Carrot”
· 5.9 Star Rating and highest Spike-Rating of 2024
8. Winner of the Sports and Humour Award
· Irn-Bru and Leith – “Optimism is Back in Scotland”
· 5.0 Star Rating
9. Least “Dull” Ad (Christmas)
System1’s Extraordinary Cost of Dull research found that ads with high neutrality scores fail to drive action, as disengaged consumers don’t act in the short or long term. In 2024, UK ads averaged 50% neutrality, with half of viewers unmoved. Brands that prioritised emotional impact—positive or negative—had the strongest commercial potential. Categories like chocolate and travel, being inherently emotional, have an advantage, while sectors like financial services and broadband must work harder to create emotional impact.
· Disney and Adam&EveDDB – “The Boy and the Octopus”
· 5.9 Star Rating, 6% neutrality vs. category average of 47%
10. Least “Dull” Ad (Non-Christmas)
· Virgin Media and VCCP – “Walrus Whizzer”
· 3.8 Star Rating, 27% neutrality—half the 54% Broadband Provider category average
11. The Out-of-Home Favourite
· Cadbury and VCCP – “Secret Santa Postal Service”
· 5.5 Star Rating
12. The Family Favourite
· OXO and Above+Beyond – “Made with OXO, Made with Love”
· 4.8 Star Rating
13. Diversity and Representation
· Doritos and Goodby Silverstein & Partners – “For the Bold in Everyone”
· 4.4 Star Rating
Doritos defied stereotypes, showcasing independence, humour, and agency for over-55s, with a standout 27% surprise score.
14. New Brand Character
· Funky Pigeon and VCCP – “Give a Funk?”
· 4.1 Star Rating
15. Star-Studded Partnership
· Santander and House337 – “Banking with the Enemy”
· 3.3 Star Rating
Key themes from 2024’s top adverts
This year’s standout campaigns highlight several key themes that drove consumer engagement and creative success:
Consistency
Familiarity emerged as a powerful driver of engagement and commercial success. Returning brand characters like Kevin the Carrot, enduring brand identities like Irn-Bru, and the re-airing of classics such as Cadbury’s Mum’s Birthday demonstrate the value of consistency. Cross-channel alignment also played a role, with Cadbury’s Secret Santa Postal Service winning in the outdoor category while reinforcing their overall brand story. In 2024, familiarity bred not just contentment but also measurable success, highlighted in System1’s Compound Creativity research using data from the IPA.
Humour
Humour made a bold comeback in 2024, with many brands embracing unconventional and playful tones. Virgin’s mischievous walrus, Irn-Bru’s cheeky take on Scottish optimism, and Marks & Spencer’s nod to The Vicar of Dibley are prime examples. From quirky characters like Aardman’s Shaun the Sheep to the fun and irreverent Funkettes, brands leaned into cultural references and bold comedic choices, making humour a hallmark of this year’s top campaigns.
Brands Zigged
Defying category conventions and exploring unexpected emotions proved to be winning strategies in 2024. Pot Noodle embraced the often-avoided emotion of disgust to stand out, while Doritos challenged stereotypes with a campaign celebrating boldness in unexpected ways. Similarly, Save the Children broke from the norm in their category by prioritising hope and positivity over sadness.
This year’s campaigns reinforce the insights from The Extraordinary Cost of Dull report, where Jon Evans, host of the Uncensored CMO podcast, Adam Morgan of eatbigfish, and Peter Field emphasised that neutrality is the greatest enemy in advertising. In 2024, brands that “zigged” when others “zagged”—by being bold, unconventional, or breaking category norms—reaped the rewards.
Andrew Tindall, SVP partnerships, System1, said: “2024 was an extraordinary year, setting a high benchmark for 2025. Many brands and agencies broke conventions, delivering some of the most innovative and captivating creative we’ve ever seen. It’s incredibly exciting to see brands stepping up beyond seasonal moments and consistently engaging audiences on an emotional level throughout the year.”
Kate Waters, director of client strategy and commercial marketing, ITV, said: “In 2024, we didn’t just see brands and agencies raising the floor—we saw them breaking through the ceiling. Together, they delivered ads that resonated, entertained, and stood out. It’s inspiring to witness such an unwavering commitment to originality and craft throughout the year.”
