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But this year, advertisers have fine-tuned their messaging and style for a COVID-devastated audience.It\u2019s striking how many 2020 holiday commercials focus on the same hopeful themes using a storytelling approach.Advertisers have already stepped up in 2020 with commercials keenly crafted for the times. Dubbed \u201cpandemic era ads,” they’ve\u00a0 encouraged us to not hoard toilet paper and thanked us for forgoing their services. They\u2019ve even made it cool to embrace the couch potato lifestyle.\u00a0Though the pandemic has distanced us, vaccines are on the horizon, bringing about a giddiness in the air, and light at the end of this tunnel \u2013 even if it still feels too good to be true.\u00a0Best heartwarming 2020 holiday commercials for tough times1. AmazonOnline giant Amazon pulled on the heartstrings of everyone who had their big, life-changing events canceled due to the pandemic. From school performances, tournaments, and graduations to weddings and baby showers, the celebrations of our lives largely came to a halt in 2020. Mostly, their ad spoke for a generation of young people who have missed out on so much, but been so strong, brave and resilient in the face of so much adversity.\u00a0\u00a0And yet, the show still went on. Around the world, people found ways to connect and to celebrate even from afar. And Amazon\u2019s 2020 holiday commercial shows all that we missed, and all that we made up for, in a short 2-minute clip. Featuring incredible cinematography, the commercial focuses on a young ballerina who won a lead part in a performance, only to have it cancelled when the pandemic took hold.\u00a0 A friend persuades her to perform a solo lit up by a spotlight bought on Amazon (of course), and arranges for an audience of her friends and neighbors .\u00a02. Sainsbury’sUK supermarket chain Sainsbury\u2019s doesn\u2019t address the pandemic specifically in its commercial, but it does pull together all the things each of us are dealing with this holiday season \u2013 and have been for all of 2020. It depicts the phone calls home hoping for connection, and to be able to gather.\u00a0The joy is palpable in the family’s voices as they joke and play, and work to make a phone call as meaningful as ever. And of course, all those memories each of us have of the food, the warmth, and the glow of the holidays.This content is hosted by a third party ( www.youtube.com ).To view the content, either update your cookie preferences or view it in a new browser window.Cookie PreferencesNew WindowIt’s an ad that reminds us that even if we can\u2019t be together this year, those memories are with us, embedded deeply in our bones, and in the voices of those we love.\u00a03. Disney & Make-a-Wish FoundationThough this 2020 holiday commercial doesn\u2019t touch on this year’s events, it’s a stark reminder of the importance of family and family traditions. For so many, the holidays in 2020 will be disrupted and traditions altered. And still, it’s the small things we can do that bring us closer, like recognizing and honoring the value in those traditions and cherished objects.This content is hosted by a third party ( www.youtube.com ).To view the content, either update your cookie preferences or view it in a new browser window.Cookie PreferencesNew Window2020 has made us all feel a bit estranged from those we love. Disney and Make-a-Wish Foundation\u2019s 2020 holiday commercial reminds us that the estrangement can be repaired, and together, we can continue to celebrate our traditions, even if they look a little bit different.\u00a0The ad also touches on how relationships and traditions can suffer when children grow older and become more independent.\u00a0 We see this theme in our next commercial.\u00a04. McDonald’s\u00a0McDonald\u2019s \u201cInner Child\u201d holiday commercial speaks volumes not just to those parents with pre-teens and teenagers, but to all of us who this year have struggled this year to enjoy doing the things we\u2019ve always loved.\u00a0This content is hosted by a third party ( www.youtube.com ).To view the content, either update your cookie preferences or view it in a new browser window.Cookie PreferencesNew WindowWe’re fatigued. We’re lonely. We’re working and living in a year in which very little has gone the way we expected. It’s OK for all of us to feel less than excited about so much. Yet with encouragement and connection, each of us can find our way back to the joy of the small things \u2013 the things we can still do and control. The things, that in the end, matter the most.\u00a02020 holiday commercials: Looking to better times aheadAt the end of a difficult year, what people need most is hope. The 2020 holiday commercials give us a glimpse of this future and how things could even be better after the pandemic is over. Perhaps people will appreciate the simple things more: Human connections, and the value of family and friendships.\u00a0 I’m excited to see that brands have embraced diversity in their holiday messages like never before. If nothing else, that’s one small achievement in 2020 that I cling to. And of course, perhaps the greatest gift of all: A vaccine that gives us hope for a better, less distanced 2021.\u00a0Where do we go from here?The most brilliant minds are on it.Learn more\u00a0HERE.\u00a0"},{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"2020","item":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2020\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"12","item":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2020\/\/12\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"13","item":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2020\/\/12\/\/13\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"Grow your heart 3 sizes: 2020’s best holiday ads to lift your spirits","item":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2020\/12\/13\/best-2020-holiday-commercials\/#breadcrumbitem"}]}]