Oreo Returns With Santa’s Naughty List After a Five-Year Gap

By James Calloway

Five years after its last holiday campaign, Oreo has returned with a 30-second spot in which Santa retaliates against a father who steals his Oreo, according to Adweek.

The Mondelēz-owned brand’s “Santa’s Favorite Cookie” turns the ritual of leaving cookies for Santa into a test of sharing. In the spot, a dad sneaks a bite of an Oreo left out for Santa Claus. Santa then retaliates by putting the cookie thief on his naughty list, Adweek reported.

The reversal gives Oreo a specific role in the seasonal setup. The brand is the snack at the center of the misbehavior, not a background detail. The ad takes a familiar gift-left-for-Santa ritual and puts Oreo at the center of both the joke and the brand interaction.

Who developed Oreo’s holiday campaign?

No Notes Productions developed the campaign, according to Adweek. Colin Jost, a comedian, Saturday Night Live writer and longtime Weekend Update co-anchor, founded the agency.

The agency credit gives the project a direct link to Jost’s entertainment work. Adweek’s published summary does not disclose a launch date, media budget, distribution plan or production scope beyond the 30-second film. The report also carries a “Beta Generated by AI” label and says the Adweek newsroom reviewed it.

The campaign’s visible mechanics are straightforward: a seasonal premise, a conflict between Santa and a dad, an Oreo at stake and a 30-second payoff. The unanswered questions sit outside the film: where the spot runs, how heavily it is supported and whether it becomes part of a wider seasonal push. The creative is clear; the media buy is not.

How does the stolen-cookie joke work?

At the core of the film is a dad who sneaks a bite of an Oreo left for Santa, Adweek said. Santa’s retaliation supplies the response, turning a small act of snack theft into the campaign’s punch line.

As Adweek described the idea, the film “puts an Oreo-shaped twist on the timeless tradition of leaving a snack for Old Saint Nick.” The twist is the theft. The setup starts with a recognizable occasion, then makes the branded cookie the temptation that triggers Santa’s punishment.

That sequence keeps the product tied to the action in both directions. The Oreo creates the rule-breaking, and the rule-breaking gives Oreo the reason for Santa’s intervention. The naughty-list consequence gives the brand a light seasonal line without changing the familiar Santa premise.

Why does the return matter to Mondelēz?

Oreo generates around $3 billion in global revenue, according to Adweek, which described the brand as the anchor of Mondelēz’s biscuits and baked snacks segment. A five-year return therefore reaches a business with substantial scale, even though the campaign itself runs for less than a minute.

The report makes no claim that holiday advertising will move that revenue, and it provides no sales target for the spot. Its immediate commercial logic is narrower: use a ritual in which consumers already plan to leave cookies for Santa and make Oreo the branded choice.

The structure also makes the campaign easy to place in seasonal media. A 30-second film can sit inside a broader Santa moment without requiring a long explanation. The unresolved issue is whether the short idea has broad use or stands as a singular spot designed to create a concentrated moment.

What should marketers watch next?

For Mondelēz, the next proof point is whether “Santa’s Favorite Cookie” returns in another holiday cycle. A second seasonal appearance would indicate that the five-year comeback has become a recurring platform. Another five-year absence would leave the campaign as a notable one-off.

With around $3 billion in global revenue behind it, Oreo gives Mondelēz a sizable brand for that test. The next holiday cycle will show whether the five-year return becomes a seasonal platform or stays a 30-second punch line.