How brands lit up the holidays with YouTube creators

Check out the most innovative ways brands are embracing the power of YouTube Creators this holiday season.

• Pet destination Chewy brought their "Chewy Claus" initiative to life by teaming up with passionate pet parents like Jared and Milo and Reign Storm Samuel. The YouTube Shorts campaign brought the voices of well–known pet Creators to encourage other pet owners to write letters asking for their pets’ holiday wishes to come true. For every letter received, Chewy donates five meals to shelter animals in need. In parallel, Chewy partnered with dog creators like Gone to the Snow Dogs and Doug the Pug to highlight the brand's line of fresh dog food Get Real as the ultimate holiday gift for pets.

• JCPenney is helping people overcome the feeling that you have to spend a fortune to look great this holiday season by partnering with creator Pierson Wodzynski. Pierson, the ‘hostess with the mostess,’ created a series of videos where she wow’d her parents with elegant gifts and decor, showing shoppers how they can do the same with finds from JCPenney. JCPenney also paired Pierson’s content with YouTube’s new Shoppable masthead, so viewers could purchase products featured in the videos directly.

• Kohl’s knows that for many parents, the key to a joyful holiday is planning ahead. To bring that idea to life, they partnered with creator Elle Walker from WhatsUpMoms. Her videos showed how getting gifting done early with Kohl’s can reduce holiday stress.

• For Mattel’s iconic Hot Wheels brand, creative worlds collided with Emmy-nominated YouTube creator Michelle Khare, who shares the brand’s "Challenge Accepted" tagline. Tapping into Michelle's self-proclaimed childhood love for the toys, the campaign imagines her in the driver’s seat opposite her younger self — battling dragons and dodging mid-air collisions across three of the brand's top holiday products. To amplify further, Mattel paired this campaign with Creator takeovers.

• To help shoppers plan their holiday looks early, Old Navy partnered with creator Abbie Herbert. The creative campaign features present-day Abbie interacting with 'Holiday Abbie,' her future self who is thankful she planned ahead, inspiring viewers to get a jump on their holiday plans.

• Target knows long-lasting creator partnerships are some of the most impactful, and partnered with creator Haley Pham for 7 weeks of holiday gift drops. Leaning into current trends like gamified content and mystery boxes, Target featured products Haley chose to “wrap” for someone else or “keep” for herself, driving excitement throughout the entire shopping season.

• Who knew the latest gift wrapping trends were so challenging? Walmart partnered with comedian and creator Charlotte Dobre for a series showcasing how Walmart can solve any task this holiday - whether that’s improving wrapping skills, packing for travelling, or completing a surprise room makeover - all featuring shoppable products from Walmart.

Creators aren't just reading scripts; they're tapping into the real holiday experience their audiences are living, whether that’s a feel-good moment, the communal stress of planning, or the nostalgia of holidays past. They bring their unique perspectives, their genuine takes, and their hilarious commentary to every product they feature. It’s authentic. It’s relevant. And it absolutely drives results. According to Kantar, on average, YouTube Creator Ads on Shorts increase purchase intent by 8.8%, driving 2.9x more consumer intent to spend vs. competition (US, 2025).

As another holiday season wraps up, we are excited to see how these best-in-class campaigns inspire brands and creators as we move into 2026.