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Our Favorite European Ads of 2025
Vodafone, Google Pixel, Hornbach and more
Here’s a look at the best ads covered in Eurovisions this year.
Coordown, ‘No Decision Without Us’
Agency: Small
Our pick for this year’s best campaign featuring a Lin-Manuel Miranda–ish, Hamilton-esque song is “No Decision Without Us.” The spot channels a galvanizing spirit as people with Down Syndrome and other conditions assert their right to be represented at home, in town halls and in the workplace. The work underscores that the fight for freedom, visibility and equitable living is both intersectional and inseparable.
Bournville, Cadbury, ‘Made to Be Enjoyed, Not Endured’
Agency: Girl&Bear
The obvious choice for this year’s best campaign featuring the phrase “Saturated in nibs, relentless nibs,” had to be Cadbury’s Dark Chocolate campaign. This playful spot features a pair of foodie snobs going head-to-head over whose non-Cadbury treat is more dark-chocolatey. “To the uneducated palate, this tastes like burnt tire,” one says. The other retorts, “This one captures bitterness, astringency and resentfulness.”
Vodafone, ‘A Child Without Teammates’
Agency: The Newtons Laboratory
Our no-brainer pick for this year’s best “Heartwarming campaign featuring pro athletes and a lonely kid” goes to this touching spot about a young football fan living on a remote island with no playmates. He’s rescued from his solitude by a group of digitally connected adults who decide to become his team. In the ensuing chain of events, he’s given seats at an actual match, where the Greek National Football Team makes him an honorary member.
Hornbach, ‘No Project Without Drama’
Agency: HeimatTBWA
Our choice for this year’s best campaign featuring “The most dramatically over-the-top bathroom redecoration ever” had to be Hornbach’s Fantasia-like spot. Appropriately, it’s a one-person bathroom DIY tale, staged like a pièce de theatre. We get war-flashbacks to flood fiascos and even magic brooms. The sound design may be the best part, orchestrated to great effect, punctuating every abject moment with tragicomic masks and a kind of Greek chorus. Unlike The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, though, this story has a happy ending: a bubbly tub, just overflowy enough.
Google Pixel, ‘Football of a New Generation’
Agency: Jung von Matt Sports
Our pick for the best campaign featuring women football/soccer players doing weird things with soccer balls goes to this gem. The spot juxtaposes rigorous yet playful training with the German national team set in an elegant manor house. Skeet shooting, heading practice with statues, the work is packed with pop-culture references and positions the team as stylishly empowered and modern. It’s work that’s got sass, but also pearls.
Renault Group’s Motrio, ‘The Ranch’
Agency: Buzzman Paris
Our pick for best campaign featuring a grizzled cowboy whispering to a frisky Renault goes to “The Ranch.” In this spot, the haunted-eyed rancher ultimately wins the car’s trust, with plenty of melodramatic hijinks along the way. Then we snap back to reality, where he reappears as a mechanic, inexplicably nuzzling a bumper in front of its bemused owner.
—Angela Natividad contributed to this roundup
