Halloween is Over - The Holiday Season is Here!

November 1st marked the first day of holiday advertising.  With the current state of the economy, it's pretty obvious why companies are getting an early start on holiday advertising. I was a little taken back at first, but as the weeks progress these commercials are helping to get me into the holiday spirit.

One of my favorite of this year's holiday commercials is the Sears "Grant a Wish" commercial.  It features the song "World" by Five For Fighting and various celebrities that were "granted a wish" that ended up changing their lives.  The end of the commercial features scenes from ABC's "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" where deserving families are granted a home makeover.  Regardless of what I'm doing, this commercial never fails to grab my attention. What works in this commercial is that, while it doesn't make me want to run to Sears for my holiday shopping, it does motivate me to put more thought into my Christmas gifts this year.

There are a few holiday commercials from that past that I also think are worth mentioning. One is the M&M's Santa Exists commercial.  This commercial plays year after year and always puts a smile on my face.  I love that the bitter know-it-all personality of the red M&M is shattered when he passes out at the sight of the REAL Santa.  I also love Santa's reaction of the walking/talking M&Ms actually existing.

Finally there's the GAP Holiday commercials.  There is an endless amount of great holiday commercials for GAP.  They all feature catchy holiday-related tunes, bright colors, and, in the "That's Holiday" spots, eye-catching animation. The GAP Holiday Stripe commercial in 2002 always grabbed my attention and made me want to dance and even earned its own SNL Spoof.

These are some of my favorite holiday advertisements. Which commercials are your holiday favorites?