Samsung’s holiday ad shows how AI can turn childhood imagination into reality

Samsung’s latest UK Christmas film leans into a familiar festive trope, childhood imagination, but anchors it firmly in the brand’s evolving AI narrative. Titled A Friend for Christmas, the ad marks the tech giant’s newest holiday-season push, this time placing its Galaxy Tab S11 Ultra at the centre of an emotional, family-led story about change, creativity and connection.

The film follows Laura, a young girl grappling with the upheaval of moving homes and leaving her friends behind. Isolated in a new neighbourhood, she finds comfort in an imaginary companion, Milo, who keeps her company as she watches other children play outside in the snow. The emotional pivot arrives through her relationship with her grandfather, who listens patiently as Laura describes Milo in detail.

Using the Galaxy Tab S11 Ultra and Samsung’s Galaxy AI Drawing Assist feature, he sketches the character, gradually giving form to Laura’s inner world. By Christmas morning, Milo has leapt from the screen into reality, reborn as a toy that mirrors the AI-assisted creation.

The spot is airing online and in cinemas across the UK. The ad's restrained storytelling avoids overt product demonstration. Instead, it allows the technology to blend into a domestic moment. Samsung’s intent is clear: to show AI not as an abstract or intimidating force, but as a quiet enabler of imagination and emotional expression within everyday family life.

The ad is also emblematic of Samsung’s broader communications strategy, particularly as competition intensifies in the tablet market. While Apple’s iPad continues to dominate in terms of market share and ecosystem loyalty, Samsung has been positioning its Galaxy Tab range as a credible, and increasingly differentiated, alternative. A key point of distinction has been AI. As Apple continues to roll out its long-anticipated AI features at a measured pace, critics and consumers alike have noted that the company has lagged behind rivals in making artificial intelligence feel tangible and consumer-facing. Samsung, by contrast, has moved aggressively to integrate AI across devices and, crucially, to foreground those capabilities in its advertising.

A Friend for Christmas follows on from an earlier festive campaign released a couple of weeks ago, which focused on Samsung’s Bespoke AI appliances.

Titled 'Enabling Merry Living', the AI-led film showcased how Samsung's refrigerators and washing machines quietly enable festive preparations. Together, the two campaigns form a deliberate holiday narrative where AI is positioned as a helpful, human-centred presence, whether in the kitchen during Christmas cooking or in a child’s bedroom, bringing drawings to life.

The shift also reflects how Samsung is using the Christmas window to tell longer-form brand stories rather than pushing transactional messaging alone. While the company is running multiple holiday promotions and gift guides alongside the campaign, the advertising itself prioritises emotional resonance over price or specifications.