Some ads just hit you in a different way. We’re talking about the animated ones that turned a hedgehog’s Christmas story famous, made making butter look like magic, and helped us think that cartoon cows talking about climate change was the funniest thing ever.
This collection of animated commercial ads, created with the help of commercial animation services, breaks down the cartoon ads that people shared, remembered, and talked about for a long time after they ran.
So for this reason, we look at what makes John Lewis’s bear and hare friendship so heartbreaking, why Honda’s paper sculptures feel like works of art, and how companies like Duolingo turned five seconds of owl confusion into internet gold.
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1. John Lewis, “The Bear and the Hare” (2013)
Key Details:
- Style: Hand-drawn 2D + real miniature sets
- Brand: John Lewis (UK store)
- Year: 2013
- Goal: Drive Christmas sales through pure emotion
- Result: Made almost half the viewers cry happy tears
The story goes around a bear that sleeps through the whole Christmas party every year. He misses all the fun every year, but his best friend, a cute little hare, always comes along.
The hare does a really cool thing. He saves all of his money to buy an alarm clock for his sleeping friend. It’s not for work or early meetings; it’s just so Bear can see Christmas morning for the first time.
John Lewis did something very new with the way they animated their products. They used both hand-drawn cartoon figures and real tiny sets that they put together by hand. This ad is a beautiful blend that raised the bar for commercial animation.
Just like comic animals going through real-life caves and woods that are very small. Well, what happened? Disney-style characters who live in a world you can reach out and touch.
2. Heinz “A Can Size for Every Aussie” (2017)
Key Details:
- Style: Pixar-level 3D character animation
- Brand: Heinz Australia
- Year: 2017
- Goal: Show Heinz grows with families
- Quality: Cinema-standard production values
- Smart angle: Life stages = product sizes
Heinz makes the choice to film a movie about baked beans. Not just any movie, but an intense journey on the level of Pixar that follows one person through all of their can sizes.
For the first step in this animation ad, they give a baby plastic food jars. As that child grows, they will need small cans, and when the kid eats regular-sized meals, they become a young adult. Eventually, he’ll have his own family and need those big cans for everyone.
It’s targeted advertising that looks like the cutest coming-of-age story you’ve ever seen.
The level of technical skill here is crazy. Every wrinkle that the character gets older and every change in setting, from a bright bedroom as a child to a fancy apartment as an adult, feels real. They even get the small ways that people hold cans differently at different ages.
However, food memories are what make this work so well emotionally. We all have foods that make us think of family meals or homes from our childhood. And Heinz set themselves up to be the steady partner through all of life’s big events. This perfectly illustrates the real reason famous brands use animated ads to connect deeply with their audience.
The cost of commercial animation at this level is high, but Heinz pretty much persuaded us that beans have feelings and that life stories are important.
3. Headspace “What Is Headspace?” (2018)
Key Details:
- Style: Soft 2D character animation with organic shapes
- Brand: Headspace (meditation app)
- Year: 2018
- Narrator: Andy Puddicombe (co-founder)
- Goal: Make meditation accessible to beginners
- Smart move: Abstract concepts made visually concrete
What do you say to someone who thinks meditation is just singing while sitting cross-legged? Headspace solved this problem by adding cartoon brain figures that make being aware seem like breathing.
These cute little brain guys have stick-out arms and legs to deal with the chaos of modern life, and they are like ping-pong balls that are always moving.
But after that, meditation comes along like soft air and clears everything up.
The graphic method works really well for this subject. Nothing rough or sudden that could make you feel more anxious. Blues and oranges flow across the screen in soft, round forms that are soothing. So it’s relaxing just to watch it.
This example shows one of the many types of commercial animation that use simple, calming visuals to communicate complex ideas.
They did a great job with the vague idea problem. Stress turns into dark clouds that you can see, and those racing thoughts become bubbles that pop and fall.
And in the end, this quiet cleaning process seems to be meditation. Out of nowhere, mental states that can’t be seen take on form and meaning.
4. McDonald’s “Inner Child” (2020)
Key Details:
- Style: Dreamlike 3D animation with soft lighting
- Brand: McDonald’s
- Year: 2020
- Theme: Rediscovering childhood joy
- Goal: Position McDonald’s as a family tradition
There’s something unique about McDonald’s that makes adults feel like kids again as soon as they walk through those golden arches. It’s the best kind of memories marketing.
The animation gives the scenes a dreamy quality, and the changes from adult to child are very smooth. Everything feels like stepping into a warm memory when the lights are on. It’s the feelings of “coming home for the holidays” turned into clear images.
They aren’t selling burgers and fries; they are selling how people feel. Specifically, the carefree happiness we remember from being a child. Every part of the animation is soft and welcoming, like a 3D hug.
At a time when people wanted an emotional bond, McDonald’s said they were more than just fast food. They led to happier, easier times.
Read More: 11 Animated Ads That Changed the Way We See Advertising
5. Emirates “Department of Family Travel” (2019)
Key Details:
- Style: Wooden toy aesthetic with 3D animation
- Brand: Emirates Airlines
- Year: 2019
- Concept: Addressing family travel pain points
- Goal: Position Emirates as a family-friendly airline
- Smart move: Acknowledging problems before solving them
Most companies would not have dared to do what Emirates did. They admitted that flying with kids is a mess and then showed how they make it better.
The first part of this commercial animation is every parent’s worst nightmare: babies crying, kids being cranky, adults experiencing anxiety, and other people being irritated. It’s brutally honest about the real world of family travel.
Then Emirates steps in with family-friendly options, and the trip goes smoothly, and everyone is happy.
It looks like high-end wooden toys have come to life in this animation style. The handmade, physical feel of everything makes even the chaos feel cute instead of stressful. The way the wooden blocks look gives them a storybook-like cuteness.
Most companies act like traveling with kids is easy. But Emirates Airlines said, “Nope, it’s tough, but we’ve got your back.” And being honest makes people trust you right away.
6. Nike “Air Reinvented” (2017)
Key Details:
- Style: Multiple animation styles representing different eras
- Brand: Nike
- Year: 2017
- Concept: Evolution of Air technology through visual evolution
- Goal: Position Nike as an innovation leader
- Technique: Historical animation styles matching product timeline
What if you could see the past of art and sneakers coming together in real time? Seriously, it’s mind-blowing what Nike did here.
A rough sketch that looks like it came from an old design notebook is the first thing we see. Then, all of a sudden, those drawings start to move, change, and get smarter. Big images and the vibe of that time made the ’90s a hit. And the present? This is pure digital art that opens your eyes wider.
Not only is each decade talked about, but it also has its own graphic language. Apple is saying, “We didn’t just make shoes, we helped shape design culture itself.”
One thing that hits you is the confidence. A lot of companies would be happy to show off their newest tech, but Nike took it a step further and positioned themselves as culture builders.
7. Duolingo “Super Bowl 2024” (2024)
Key Details:
- Style: High-end 3D character animation
- Brand: Duolingo (language learning app)
- Year: 2024
- Length: 5 seconds (deliberately short)
- Strategy: Regional Super Bowl buy instead of national
- Goal: Generate buzz through pure weirdness
Five seconds. That’s all Duolingo needed to break the internet during the Super Bowl. And honestly, those five seconds were pure, unfiltered chaos.
Duo the owl takes up the entire screen, doing… well, let’s just say he’s showing off his backside while making some very distinctive owl noises. It’s weird, it’s uncomfortable, and it’s absolutely perfect for a brand that’s built its reputation on being slightly unhinged.
Right after the commercial aired, four million Duolingo users got a push notification saying “You missed your lesson.”
Here’s why it worked—total brand consistency. Duolingo never tried to be warm and fuzzy.
They leaned into their reputation for passive-aggressive notifications and slightly creepy owl behavior.
8. Spotify “Premium Zen” (2020)
Key Details:
- Style: Retro ’80s geometric animation with neon aesthetics
- Brand: Spotify
- Year: 2020
- Target: Older millennials and Gen X
- Music: Custom synthwave soundtrack
- Goal: Position Premium as a lifestyle upgrade
Spotify took us on this dreamy trip through the 1980s that’s a lot like a holiday for your eyes and ears.
Our main character floats through neon-soaked landscapes, and everything flows perfectly because he’s got Spotify Premium. No ads are getting in the way of his mood or mix limits ruining it. Just a smooth, musical paradise wrapped in forms and synthwave sounds.
Bright neon colors, geometric designs, and that slightly rough texture that makes everything feel really old make the style scream retro cool. It looks like someone took the best parts of music videos from the 1980s and turned them into pure art.
Spotify is playing a smart game with these groups. Teenagers and young adults see cutting-edge retro style, while people over 50 really miss the days when music felt more planned and put together.
Read More: The Evolution of Animated Cryptocurrency Ads
9. Slack “So Yeah, We Tried Slack” (2019)
Key Details:
- Style: 2D character animation mixed with UI screenshots
- Brand: Slack (workplace communication)
- Year: 2019
- Format: Extended mockumentary approach
- Goal: Show emotional benefits, not just features
- Smart move: Acknowledging real workplace pain points
What happens when you make workplace software feel like a documentary comedy? Slack figured it out with this mockumentary-style piece that’s The Office meets productivity apps.
We follow a fictional team drowning in email, missed messages, endless reply-all chains, and general workplace misery. Then Slack shows up and transforms everything, like better communication, clearer organization, and people actually enjoying work again.
What’s brilliant is the emotional honesty. Instead of rattling off features, they show us how work actually feels before and after. Characters go from stressed to relieved, then confused to confident. And as you can see in this animation, the visual metaphors support this perfectly because email chains literally look like chains, while Slack conversations flow naturally.
10. Mailchimp “Did You Mean Mailchimp?” (2017)
Key Details:
- Style: Multiple animation styles across different segments
- Brand: Mailchimp (email marketing)
- Year: 2017
- Concept: Fictional companies with similar-sounding names
- Goal: Increase brand recognition through memorable weirdness
- Production: Different animation studios for each segment
Sometimes the best way to solve a problem is to turn it into entertainment. People were always saying Mailchimp’s name wrong, so they made up a whole world to deal with it.
It’s a short story about absurd companies with similar names, such as KaleLimp (a kale delivery service), SnailPrimp (premium snail grooming), and FailShrimp (a seafood disaster). The different animation styles used in each section make this crazy variety show of weirdness.
Better to say that the animation goes back and forth between hand-drawn doodles, smooth 3D art, and paper cutouts. It’s like a fair where every piece sounds like “Mailchimp.” Somehow, it all makes sense, even though it seems strange and funny.
The smart move is that they don’t really explain what Mailchimp does because they think you’ll figure it out. It’s that assumption that makes everything feel cooler and more memorable than a specific answer.
11. Honda “Paper” (2015)
Key Details:
- Style: Stop-motion animation with handcrafted paper sculptures
- Brand: Honda
- Year: 2015
- Production: Months of paper crafting and stop-motion filming
- Concept: Company history told through transforming paper art
- Goal: Position Honda as precision craftspeople
Someone at Honda had the crazy idea to use paper to tell the whole story of their business. Paper, scissors, and their own imagination are all they need—no fancy CGI or live-action video.
First, they made a simple motorbike out of folded paper. Then something magical happens. Slowly, that bike changes into a Formula 1 race car, then a lawnmower, and finally a private jet.
Each change happens so easily that you forget you’re looking at a piece of paper and start to see Honda’s real journey through decades of new ideas.
What gets you is that real artists worked on these models by hand for months. All of the folds, creases, and small details were carefully planned and carried out. And that’s why every scene of the movie makes you feel like a person was there.
Read More: Animation vs. Live Action
12. Ben & Jerry’s “Back to the Mooture” (2019)
Key Details:
- Style: Mixed animation styles representing different time periods
- Brand: Ben & Jerry’s
- Year: 2019
- Characters: Time-traveling cartoon cows
- Goal: Reinforce brand values through entertaining history lesson
- Smart move: Making activism accessible through humor
Ben & Jerry’s decided to make their company history lesson actually fun by sending cartoon cows on a time-travel adventure. Sounds ridiculous? It totally is, and that’s exactly why it works.
These animated cows bounce between different eras of the company’s story. So we see hand-drawn hippie vibes from the ’70s startup days, bold ’80s graphics during their growth phase, then sleek modern design for today’s flavor innovations. Each time period gets its own visual style while the cows stay consistently lovable throughout.
What could have been an uninteresting business timeline turns into a fun trip where cows joke about fair trade coffee and fighting climate change. Actually, they make societal duties funnier without making it seem shallow.
13. Erste Group “What Would Christmas Be Without Love?” (2018)
Key Details:
- Style: High-end 3D character animation with film-quality rendering
- Brand: Erste Group (Austrian bank)
- Year: 2018
- Character: Henry the lonely hedgehog
- Goal: Associate brand with community and inclusion
- Result: Over 90 million views across platforms
A bank in Austria made a Christmas ad about a hedgehog that was all by itself, and it became one of the most moving ads ever.
Henry the hedgehog can’t join in the Christmas fun because other animals can’t get close to his spikes. As everyone else enjoys the holiday spirit, we see him sitting alone. Truly, it breaks anyone’s heart.
Then the animals in the forest get an idea: they should knit Henry a warm sweater so that everyone can finally hug him. Henry’s happy face when he sees what they’ve done will crush your soul.
The animation is as good as anything Disney has ever made, capturing the magic of a classic Disney story, but what’s more important is that it deals with ideas of community and acceptance without ever talking about banking services. By the end, you’re not thinking about money but about being kind and feeling like you fit.
14. Clover “Way Better” (2020)
Key Details:
- Style: Fantasy-themed 3D animation with magical realism
- Brand: Clover (dairy products)
- Year: 2020
- Concept: Manufacturing process as a magical adventure
- Goal: Make industrial dairy production feel artisanal
- Achievement: Transform boring into magical
Clover turned the process of making butter into the most beautiful plant tour you’ve ever seen. It’s very much like Willy Wonka’s world, with dancing ingredients and shiny machines.
We don’t see tedious industrial tools; instead, we see strange creatures leading milk through mystical settings. The whole production process turns into a dream journey, with fairy-tale-like logic used to check the quality of each step. Then it all leads to the creation of their creamy spread.
Every frame is full of creativity—bright colors, fun character designs, and an overwhelming sense of wonder that makes working in dairy production seem like the coolest job in the world.
The best part is that they make manufacturing seem amazing without making it seem fake. We still know how much care and accuracy went into it, but now it’s wrapped in pure joy.
15. Nespresso “On Ice” (2017)
Key Details:
- Style: Textured 2D animation with realistic environmental details
- Brand: Nespresso
- Year: 2017
- Setting: Luxurious summer lake and yacht scenes
- Goal: Associate iced coffee with a premium lifestyle
- Approach: Sell the feeling, not the features
Nespresso made a cartoon version of a high-end holiday poster, and to be frank, it’s pretty relaxing. We float through scenes of sunny lakes, fancy boat decks, and times spent by the pool while someone enjoys the perfect iced coffee.
There’s no need to hurry. The animation goes at a slow, purposeful pace that makes you think of a great summer afternoon. This dreamy, moving rhythm connects docks by the lake that turn into boat decks and chairs by the pool.
The work with textures is amazing in this animation. The water really sparkles, the ice cubes clink with weight, and everything looks like it could be touched. Also, the color scheme is mostly cool blues and bright yellows, which creates a mood that makes you want both the coffee and the place.
Their strategy of selling the feeling rather than the tools is smart. We don’t learn about how to make coffee or where beans come from. Rather, we enjoy the perfect moment of rest that comes with enjoying a tasty drink in a beautiful setting.
The Bottom Line
These cartoon ads did something that most brands still fail at: they got us interested in what they were selling before they even said it. Every story, whether it was about a hedgehog making friends or cartoon cows going back in time to learn about the history of ice cream, worked because it didn’t feel forced. The animation was more than just pretty pictures, and it became a way for people to connect emotionally with the company.
