System1: Distinctive Assets, not Indulgence, Separate the Winners in the 2026 Easter ad Rankings

Mar. 31, 2026

The creative effectiveness platform System1 has revealed its ranking of this year’s UK Easter ads, with Lindt, Marks & Spencer, and Cadbury leading the pack.

While evolving HFSS restrictions have reshaped the creative landscape, this year’s results show that success at Easter is less about what you can show, and more about what people remember.

While most advertisers continue to centre their work on product and food imagery, the top performers go further, combining strong emotional response with high brand fluency to maximise impact.

System1's Star Rating measures emotional response to predict long-term brand growth, while Fluency captures how quickly and easily viewers recognise the brand. The top three ads excelled on both metrics, demonstrating the power of distinctive brand assets to drive effectiveness.

• Lindt | Make your Easter sparkle with the Lindt Gold Bunny – 5.9 Stars
• M&S | M&S Luxury Fruited Hot Cross Bun – 5.7 Stars
• Cadbury | Better the Hide, Better the Hunt – 5.6 Stars
• Tesco | Finest Extra Fruity Hot Cross Buns – 4.8 Stars
• Aldi | Village Bakery Hot Cross Buns – 3.9 Stars
• Lidl | More to Value this Easter – 3.9 Stars
• Lidl | More to Value this Easter, Mix n Match – 3.8 Stars
• Tesco | Finest double-layer Easter chocolate eggs – 3.7 Stars
• Lidl | Deluxe Hot Cross Buns – 3.7 Stars
• Asda | Big Easter Energy – 3.2 Stars

Cadbury’s ‘Better the Hide, Better the Hunt’ stood out as the only campaign to shift away from traditional food cues - instead using storytelling to bring its brand assets to life. The 5.6-Star ad features a mischievous, Cadbury-purple egg timer hiding itself for children to find, delivering both strong emotional engagement and a category-leading Fluency score of 95% (joint highest).

Andrew Tindall, Chief Growth Officer at System1, said:

“Easter is one of those rare moments where the category does a lot of the work for you. People want chocolate. They want hot cross buns. So simply showing the product isn’t enough to stand out. The winners are the brands that go beyond appetite appeal and lean into what makes them distinctive. M&S uses its signature sultry, ASMR-style voiceover to elevate the product into something more sensorial and indulgent. Lindt leans on the GOLD BUNNY, one of the most recognisable seasonal assets in the category. And Cadbury continues to compound the strength of its Easter hunt platform, building memory year after year. As HFSS rules continue to reshape the category, the brands that stand the test of time will be those that move beyond temptation and invest in the assets that make them memorable.”