And the most compelling Christmas ad is...

New York - The Brits are no slouches when it comes to holiday advertisements.The competition between British retail giants to come up with the most compelling TV ad grows more intense every holiday season. This year, the biggest initial buzz was created by Sainsbury, with its depiction of the famous Christmas truce on the battlefields of World War I.

But in the home stretch, John Lewis has emerged as the winner. Its holiday ad, featuring a little boy and his pet penguin (CGI animated), scored a whopping 84% on the emotionally compelling scale, which combines attraction, retention, engagement and impact (according to a study by tech company Realeyes, which measures facial reactions to gauge marketing effectiveness).