System1 has published its first annual ranking of Australia’s top-performing television adverts, led by Qantas, Australian Lamb and AAMI.

The list ranks ten campaigns tested during 2025 using System1’s Test Your Ad product. The platform measures viewers’ emotional responses to predict longer-term brand building. It also provides a separate “Spike Rating” for short-term sales potential, which acted as a tie-breaker for adverts with the same Star Rating.

System1 uses a 1.0-Star to 5.9-Star scale. The company said only 1% of adverts score 5-Stars or higher. It reported an average Star Rating of 2.4 for Australian TV adverts.

Top Ranking

Qantas took the top spot with “Come and Say G’Day with Qantas” on 4.3 Stars. Australian Lamb followed with “The Summer Lamb” on 3.9 Stars. AAMI ranked third with “The AAMI Driving Test” on 3.8 Stars.

Repco placed fourth with “Bringin’ the Bathurst” on 3.7 Stars. Kia ranked fifth with “Landing Mid-2025” on 3.7 Stars. GWM also scored 3.7 Stars with “GWM Cannon” in sixth place, with the Spike Rating used to decide the order among the three campaigns.

Australian Pork ranked seventh with “Get Some Pork on Your Fork” on 3.4 Stars. Mitsubishi followed with “Long Way to the Top” on 3.3 Stars. Myer placed ninth with “Christmas at Myer 2025” on 3.2 Stars. Uber Eats rounded out the list with “Democracy Sausage Delivered” on 3.2 Stars.

Humour Thread

System1 said the top ten shared a focus on humour and recognisable cultural references. The company pointed to a mix of witty dialogue, familiar faces and references to Australian life.

It cited the use of sports and entertainment figures across the list, including tennis player Nick Kyrgios, race car drivers Greg Murphy and Marcus Ambrose, and Olympic breakdancer Rachael Gunn.

Jon Evans, Chief Consumer Officer, System1, said humour stood out as a defining creative choice in Australian advertising.

“If there’s one thing Aussies absolutely nail in advertising, it’s humour. It’s the single most effective ingredient for making ads memorable, attention-grabbing and genuinely engaging, and Australians use it unapologetically,” said Jon Evans, Chief Consumer Officer, System1.

System1 said its testing links stronger positive emotional reactions with better long-term commercial outcomes. It positions the Star Rating as an indicator for brand-building potential.

Evans linked the tone of the leading adverts to creative choices such as parody, exaggeration and cultural tropes.

“The top ten ads we tested in 2025 are packed with wit, exaggeration, cultural tropes and parody, full of character and unmistakably Aussie,” said Evans. “Insurance, car parts and auto might be some of the most “neutral” categories on System1’s Test Your Ad Competitive Edge platform, but these campaigns are anything but dull; they’re quirky, human and cut through their categories with ease,” said Evans.

Category Mix

The ranking spans travel, retail, automotive and food, with several automotive-related brands represented. Repco, Kia, GWM and Mitsubishi all placed in the top ten, alongside an insurer in AAMI.

The presence of multiple categories among the leading campaigns provides a snapshot of where System1 said it observed stronger emotional responses from audiences, based on the adverts it tested in Australia during the year.

System1 said it maintains a database of more than 100,000 adverts. It operates in Europe, North America, Brazil, Singapore and Australia.

Evans said he plans to attend Cairns Crocodiles 2026, where he will headline.