If the “Christmas format” is a product of the cultural industry, some brands and organisations have chosen to hack it from the inside. Not with the usual avalanche of forced cheer, but with messages that interrupt automatic consumption, challenge compulsory aesthetics, and open more adult, political and sustainable imaginaries.

Here are a few campaigns that proved another Christmas is possible.

CAMPAIGNA THAT CRACKED THE CHRISTMAS SCRIPT

J&B – “SHE”

J&B’s “She” puts identity at the centre as an act of truth.
Trans and non-binary people are no longer in the background; they become the recognised gaze. The story isn’t told about them; it's told through them. And the numbers hurt: 77% of trans and non-binary people say family is the hardest context in their transition.

Message: You can be who you are, even at Christmas.
Lesson: Inclusion is not an “extra topic.” It’s what makes a family, a celebration, and a community real.

Patagonia – “Don’t Buy This Jacket”

Not a classic Christmas ad, yet it returns every December like a sharp slap to consumerism’s face.

Message: Buy less. Use more.
Lesson: When marketing stops asking for more, it can start giving back.

Iceland (supermercato UK) - Anti–Palm Oil Campaign

The animated film “Rang-tan” was banned from TV in 2018. It went viral anyway.

Lesson: even a supermarket can choose a story braver than the usual perfect Christmas table.

Posten ( Poste norvegesi) — When Harry Met Santa

Queer. Tender. Political. A love story instead of a sales pitch.

Lesson: Christmas can expand imagination, not just shopping carts.

Oatly — Santa Taste Test Update Milk: Holiday edition

31 Santa Clauses taste-test oat milk. Almost all of them are ready to abandon milk and cookies for something plant-based and “more evolved.” The most iconic Christmas ritual is flipped — gently but ruthlessly.

Lesson: Even Christmas habits are not sacred. And the numbers (96.774%) make change feel ironically “inevitable.”