Winter Olympics campaigns score on effectiveness
System1 has identified the most effective advertising campaigns from the 2026 Winter Olympics, with emotionally driven storytelling and consistent brand execution emerging as the strongest predictors of impact. The rankings come from the company’s Test Your Ad Competitive Edge platform, which evaluates ads based on long- and short-term effectiveness potential.
With more than 100,000 ads in its database, System1 measures emotional response through its Star Rating and Spike Rating metrics. The Star Rating, scored from 1.0 to 5.9 Stars, indicates an ad’s potential to support long-term brand growth, while the Spike Rating tracks emotional intensity and speed of brand recognition to assess short-term sales impact.
Measuring emotion and brand impact
By combining both metrics, System1 highlights campaigns most likely to attract attention, build emotional engagement and deliver sustained business results. According to the analysis, Winter Olympics advertisers that focused on authentic human stories and perseverance achieved the strongest outcomes.
The highest-ranked campaign by Star Rating was Michelob Ultra’s Ultra Instructor, created by Wieden+Kennedy, scoring 5.1 Stars in the US market. Close behind was Peacock TV’s Winter Olympics campaign with 5.0 Stars, followed by Corona’s For Every Golden Moment, developed by Grey in the UK, with 4.9 Stars.
Top 10 campaigns by Star Rating
Other leading campaigns included NatWest’s The Winter Team Talk by Pitch Agency (4.8 Stars, UK) and Starbucks’ Coffee Run by Anomaly (4.4 Stars, US). Hershey’s Happiness is The Real Gold, created by The Martin Agency, and Xfinity’s Skater both scored 4.3 Stars in the US.
Esselunga’s Esselunga nutre un sogno, developed by Armando Testa, achieved 4.0 Stars in Italy. Walmart’s Here’s to Starting by Fallon and Honda’s This is the Power of Dreams – Ideas into Actions by kissd each scored 3.8 Stars in the US.
The findings were released as the 2026 Winter Olympics coincided with the Super Bowl, creating a concentrated period of global advertising activity.
Jon Evans, CCO at System1 and host of Uncensored CMO: "With the Super Bowl and the Winter Olympics landing at the same time, we've seen an incredible showcase of global creativity, craft, and storytelling. The Big Game always delivers star-powered spectacle, but what's been equally inspiring is the distinctly human energy coming through in Olympic advertising. There's a real focus on perseverance, dedication, and the limits of human skill, without relying on hype for its own sake. It's a reminder that when brands and agencies lean into authentic emotion and meaningful stories, the work can be just as powerful as any celebrity-led moment. That spirit of creativity and human achievement is exactly what these Games are all about."
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