Celebrity cameos, bold visuals, and short formats helped brands break through in the year’s most effective national TV ads across 15 categories

Today, TV outcomes company EDO unveiled the most effective TV ads from the first half of 2025, spotlighting the creatives that drove the strongest consumer engagement — measured by branded search and site visits — across 15 key industries, including Apparel, Auto, CPG, and Restaurants.

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EDO names top creatives across 15 categories, as measured by the TV outcomes that are most predictive of future sales.

As media fragmentation grows and performance pressure intensifies, the most effective marketers are turning to outcome-based insights to inform their strategies. With every media dollar under greater scrutiny, EDO delivers the immediate signals brands need to make smarter creative and media decisions while campaigns are still live.

Each ad in EDO’s rankings outperformed its industry peers in driving immediate consumer response — behaviors that are proven to predict future sales. Marketers can look to these standouts for creative inspiration, performance benchmarks, and new ways to activate audiences across Convergent TV.

“Some of the biggest creative wins this year came from brands willing to meet the moment — whether it was Red Lobster rebuilding after bankruptcy, Cadillac stepping into the luxury EV space, or Taco Bell entering QSR’s crispy chicken wars,” said Laura Grover, SVP, Head of Client Solutions, EDO. “These campaigns took different paths and strategies, but all drove measurable consumer engagement that signals intent and powers future business growth.”

Here are some of the top trends from EDO’s list. For a deeper dive into all 15 categories — including Alcohol, Breakfast, Credit Cards, Cruises, Insurance, OTC Pain Relief, Snacks, and Travel — visit edo.com/topads.

• Apparel: Levi’s reached No. 1 featuring Beyoncé, while Mott & Bow, New Balance, Vuori, and Tecovas each landed two ads in the top 10.
• Automotive: In the Luxury Automotive category, Cadillac’s 2025 Escalade IQ ranked No. 1, with Acura and Lexus also showing a strong presence. Among Non-Luxury advertisers, GMC led with the Hummer EV and its Crabwalk feature, while Toyota and Ford secured multiple top ads, including NFL-backed campaigns.
• CPG Beauty: Dove led with uplifting ads focused on confidence and self-care, followed by Gold Bond, Neutrogena, No7, and Lancôme with celebrity-backed campaigns.
• Diabetes & Weight Management: Noom claimed eight of the top 10 spots promoting GLP-1 drugs and health advice, with Hims’ GLP-1-focused ad outperforming the category by 522%.
• Restaurants: In Casual Dining, Red Lobster landed five of the top creatives, boosted by NBA vet Blake Griffin and NSYNC’s Joey Fatone, alongside Applebee’s, Outback Steakhouse, and Buffalo Wild Wings, focusing on meals under $20. Meanwhile, in the QSR category, Taco Bell dominated with top ads spotlighting its Luxe Cravings Box and the debut of its crispy chicken, while Long John Silver’s and McDonald’s also engaged with value and pop culture themes.

“Great creatives drive real business outcomes by inspiring viewers to take action,” continued Grover. “This year’s top ads used bold visuals, humor, music, and culturally resonant moments to spark meaningful response.”

How Brands Use EDO to Maximize TV ROI

EDO makes it easy to optimize media and creative strategy across linear and streaming TV. The company’s Creative Rotation Optimization tool helps advertisers detect, compare, and improve performance while campaigns are still live.

About EDO

EDO is the TV outcomes company. Our leading measurement platform connects convergent TV airings to the ad-driven consumer behaviors most predictive of future sales. EDO empowers the advertising industry to maximize media impact, optimize creative performance, and know the fair value of every impression — across linear and streaming for an increasingly programmatic world. By combining immediate engagement signals with world-class decision science and vertical AI, EDO equips industry leaders with syndicated, investment-grade data that aligns media to business results — with detailed competitive, category, and historical insights. Leading brands, agencies, networks, streamers, and studios trust EDO’s TV intelligence to know what works.

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