Diesel Holiday 2025 Ad Campaign

Review of Diesel Holiday 2025 Ad Campaign by Art Director Christopher Simmonds and Photographer Connor Cunningham

Diesel’s Holiday 2025 campaign delivers a wry twist on festive nostalgia, trading sugar-coated sentiment for sardonic humor. Shot by Connor Cunningham and conceived by creative director Glenn Martens with art director Christopher Simmonds, Smile! transforms the classic “photo with Santa” into a weary, tongue-in-cheek tableau. This time, Santa is a woman — tired, cheeky, and definitely on the naughty list— presiding over a lineup of grown-up “kids” demanding denim and D-Rush watches instead of toys.

The visual language is Diesel: bold, irreverent, and styled to excess. Tailored denim suiting, metallic lamé party dresses, and exaggerated accessories — from the Grab-D bag to XL lug-soled shoes — blend irony with desire. It’s a continuation of Martens’ offbeat narrative of distortion, where the brand’s humor meets its rebellious streak.

Yet while the concept aims to parody the performative joy of the holidays, its tone occasionally falters between satire and chaos. The humor is loud but not always sharp; the poses verge on parody without the subtext to sustain them. What could have been a clever commentary on exhaustion and overconsumption risks becoming another busy holiday tableau — more noise than nuance. Its refusal to conform to the “perfect family Christmas” trope continues the brand’s commitment to celebrating imperfection and subverting expectations. Yet, amid the noise of oversized laughs and exaggerated gestures, the emotional throughline feels lost. Smile! may invite us to laugh at the absurdity of the holidays, but it ultimately reminds us that irony can be a tricky gift to wrap.