advertising is the creation of enduring brand mascots. Animated characters such as Tony the Tiger for Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes, Toucan Sam for Froot Loops, the Energizer Bunny, the Geico Gecko, and the M&M’s characters have become iconic figures in popular culture. These mascots provide consistency over decades, maintaining recognizable personalities and appearances while adapting stylistically to changing trends. For instance, the M&M’s characters have appeared in both humorous and heartfelt campaigns, such as their long-running Super Bowl ads, showcasing how animation can sustain a brand’s voice and evolve with its audience.

Animation’s versatility also lies in its broad audience appeal. For children’s products, vibrant colors, exaggerated motion, and playful sound effects capture attention, as seen in classic animated cereal ads like Lucky the Leprechaun for Lucky Charms or Cap’n Crunch. For adults, stylized or nostalgic animation can evoke emotion or convey complex ideas with elegance. The Levi’s “Clayman” commercial (2002), for example, used stop-motion animation to create a distinctive, artistic aesthetic that set it apart from conventional fashion advertising. Similarly, Absolut Vodka’s minimalist animated print-bottle campaign used sleek motion and design to reinforce the brand’s modern sophistication.

Animation is especially powerful for simplifying complex or abstract concepts that might be difficult to express through live-action. Commercials for technology and healthcare brands often use animation to make data or processes visually understandable. The IBM “Smarter Planet” campaign used animated infographics to explain how interconnected technologies improve everyday life, while Prevnar 20’s animated pharmaceutical commercials used colorful microorganisms and immune cells to clarify medical information in an accessible way.

The range of animation styles available to advertisers further expands its usefulness. Traditional 2D animation, such as that used in Coca-Cola’s early ads, creates warmth and nostalgia, while 3D CGI animation—seen in GEICO’s Gecko and M&M’s campaigns—offers realism and expressive character movement. Stop-motion animation, used memorably in Chipotle’s “Back to the Start” (2011) and “The Scarecrow” (2013), gives a handcrafted quality that aligns with the company’s message of sustainability and ethical food sourcing. Mixed-media commercials like Coca-Cola’s “Happiness Factory” (2006) blend live action and CGI to create imaginative brand worlds, demonstrating animation’s ability to construct immersive storytelling environments.

Animation has also been central to major technological and artistic milestones in advertising. Before producing feature films, Pixar pioneered computer-animated commercials in the 1980s and early 1990s for brands such as Listerine and Tropicana, showcasing early 3D animation’s potential to infuse personality and humor into everyday products. Their Listerine “Arrows” (1990) ad, for instance, depicted mouthwash bottles battling germs in a playful yet high-tech world—a blend of storytelling and technical innovation that foreshadowed Pixar’s later cinematic achievements.

Despite its sometimes high production costs, animation can be more economical over time. Animated assets and characters can be reused or adapted for future campaigns without reshooting, making them valuable long-term branding investments. The GEICO Gecko, who debuted in 1999, continues to appear in new commercials across multiple platforms, maintaining brand recognition with minimal reinvention. Similarly, Coca-Cola’s animated polar bear campaigns, first launched during the 1993 holiday season, have become perennial favorites, using expressive animation to convey warmth, family, and joy—emotions deeply tied to the company’s identity.

Historically, animation has been integral to television advertising since the 1950s, when studios like Hanna-Barbera and UPA brought character-driven design and limited animation techniques to commercial production. In the 1980s and 1990s, the rise of computer-generated imagery transformed the medium, offering new levels of realism and creative potential. Today, with the advent of digital software and AI-assisted tools, even small brands can produce high-quality animated commercials for television and online platforms alike.

In contemporary advertising, animation continues to evolve both stylistically and narratively. Minimalist motion graphics, 3D character-driven storytelling, and cross-platform campaigns that extend animated mascots into social media have redefined how brands communicate. From Chipotle’s stop-motion narratives to Coca-Cola’s fantasy worlds and John Lewis’s “The Bear and the Hare” (2013)—a hand-drawn and stop-motion hybrid that tells a touching holiday story—animation remains one of the most powerful and adaptable forms of communication in television advertising. Its capacity for visual invention, emotional depth, and creative storytelling ensures that animation will continue to play a central role in how brands connect with audiences around the world.

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