Christmas becomes a bigger advertising event every year, even though there’s plenty of evidence to suggest it doesn’t provide the sales boom it once did and social media has provided the public with the perfect vehicle for expressing its verdict.

This year, John Lewis’s Christmas advert was a major media event with advance screenings for journalists; trailers running ahead of its first broadcast during Gogglebox on Channel 4 and an enormous number of online articles asking whether it is the department store’s best commercial yet.

Then, earlier in the week, Sainsbury’s launched their Christmas offering – a romantic reconstruction of the famous Christmas Eve ceasefire of 1914. The film which occupied an entire ad break during Coronation Street on ITV was made in conjunction with the Royal British Legion an is one of the most spectacular commercials ever shown on British television.

Like John Lewis’s ‘Penguin’ and many of the other commercials in our 12 Ads of Christmas, the Sainsbury’s advert began trending on Twitter within minutes of its broadcast, demonstrating once again that – far from being TV advertising’s nemesis – the internet can hugely boost the effectiveness of a well-made commercial.

Here then are 12 of the best Christmas adverts of 2014, including one reminding the public not to drink before they drive at a time of year when we’re apparently most likely to do so.

Sainsbury’s: “Christmas is for Sharing” (Starts at 00:06) – UK

There had long been a rumour within the advertising industry that Sainsbury’s Christmas commercial was going to be a bit special but only those directly involved can have known just how spectacular it was going to be. Next time Channel 4 is asking us to name our favourite all-time commercials, it seems certain that this will be one of the most mentioned adverts on the list.
Agency: Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO
Director: Ringan Ledwidge

Halfords: “Christmas Bikes” (Starts at 03:29) – UK

Despite the appeal of games consoles and techy gizmos that even the youngest children clamour for these days, there’s still something fundamentally special about receiving a bike at Christmas and this commercial for Halfords offers a perfect illustration of the appeal.
Agency: Mother
Director: Aoife McArdle

John Lewis: “Monty the Penguin” (Starts at 04:33) – UK

The anticipation of John Lewis’s Christmas commercial grows a little every year and so must the pressure of delivering something to meet it. John Lewis’s agency adam&eveDDB turned once again to director Dougal Wilson this year and the result is another film that’s really caught the public’s imagination.
Agency: adam&eveDDB
Director: Dougal Wilson

Vodafone: “Power to the Festive” (Starts at 06:38) – UK

The essential people who keep things running even on such an important day of the year feature in this charming commercial for Vodafone, which unites pockets of workers – in hospitals, on farms, in kitchens and on the road – as they sporadically watch Frozen on their phones and other devices.
Agency: RKCR/Y&R
Director: Pete Riski

Boots: “Christmas” (Starts at 07:43) – UK

This commercial for Boots surpasses the emotional impact of of both John Lewis and Sainsbury’s. An apparently disparate group of people are reluctantly making their way across the country on Boxing Day in a fashion that many of us will recognise and it doesn’t shy away from suggesting that they’re not exactly thrilled to be making their dutiful pilgrimage … but wait until you see what has persuaded them to embark on their journey.
Agency: Mother
Director: Noam Murro

Marks & Spencer: “Magic and Sparkle” (Starts at 09:45) – UK

Fairies Magic and Sparkle clock on at work and sprinkle wonder and charm into everyday lives to the fitting track Fly Me to the Moon. In truth, M&S may need a bit of magic to improve the sales figures of their clothes but they always advertise with a lot of confidence at Christmas time and this year is no exception.
Agency: RKCR/Y&R
Director: Philippe André

Aldi: “Christmas” (Starts at 11:18) – UK

The circumstances are perfect for Aldi. They and their nearly anagrammatic rival Lidl are talked of in hallowed terms these days as shoppers migrate from the big four supermarkets towards the inviting inexpensiveness of their chain. This commercial is the perfect expression of Aldi’s growing confidence … there’s no sign here of the slightly apologetic price-based message as they invite punters to buy all their Christmas groceries at their stores.
Agency: McCann Manchester
Director: Lucy Blakstad

Argos: “Advent Calendar” (Starts at 12:24) – UK

Just before Christmas, Argos dropped the alien family who have featured in their advertising for the past few years in favour of the bold approach on display here. Their advertising always seeks to place specific items and prices in front of the public and the ‘creative’ aspect of their commercials is often squeezed into a few seconds. Agency CHI have come up with the perfect answer to this problem by fully uniting price-based information and the impressive visuals.
Agency: CHI&Partners
Director: Geremy And Georgie

Debenhams: “We All Stand Together” (Starts at 13:26) – UK

A search conducted by a pair of children inside the advertised department store usefully illustrates the idea that you can find whatever you’re looking for in Debenhams. It’s not exactly a ground-breaking idea but it’s been beautifully made and who doesn’t love a bit of Paul McCartney at Christmas time? #RhetoricalQuestion
Agency: JWT London
Director: David Edwards

Sky: “Step into the Adventure” (Starts at 14:31) – UK

As a family decorates the Christmas tree, Kermit the Frog barges into the room and propels them on a Sky Movie Adventure. They’re taken through a raft of family movies before ending up back at home and – along the way – they’re cleverly transformed to fit the movies they visit in an attempt to illustrate how watching movies on Sky is a fully immersive experience.
Agency: WCRS
Director: Ivan Bird

Mulberry: “Win Christmas” (Starts at 15:35) – UK

How will you do in the gift-giving stakes this year? Will you be able to wow someone with a Pointillist portrait of them painted by your own fair hand? Or will you track down a unicorn and finally prove they exist? Of course, the secret is to make sure that whatever you settle on, it’s what the recipient actually wants, or all your efforts will be as nothing … as this amusing advert for Mulberry demonstrates.
Agency: adam&eveDDB
Director: Andy McLeod

Think!: “50th Anniversary” (Starts at 17:22) – UK

It’s astonishing to learn that 50 years ago – when there were far fewer cars on the road – deaths caused by drink driving were nearly six times higher than they are today. The Think! campaign has been largely instrumental in this, and so they have good reason to celebrate this startling reduction. But that’s not going to be of any help to the 230 each year who die, as this brave and sensitive film tells us.
Agency: Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO
Director: Mark Zibert

Jason Stone is the editor of David Reviews

• This article was amended on 18/11/2014 to correct the name of the Road Safety campaign to Think!