What We’re Watching, Listening to, and Holding Onto This Holiday

Christmas Day is one of the rare moments when media stops being something we analyze and becomes something we simply live with.

At Campfire, we spend most of the year thinking deeply about where attention goes, how trust is built, and why certain media environments matter more than others. But today isn’t about frameworks or performance. It’s about ritual. Comfort. Familiar things that have followed us from childhood into adulthood.

We asked the team what media traditions they return to every year, and the answers were a reminder that media matters because it’s woven into memory.

For some of us, it’s music.

Holiday music playing in the background while studying, cooking, or just letting the day unfold. Songs that don’t demand attention but somehow anchor the moment. The kind you put on “just for a bit” and then realize you’ve been listening all afternoon.

For others, it’s returning to childhood favorites.

Christmas episodes of shows like SpongeBob. Movies you’ve seen so many times you can quote them. Stories that feel like muscle memory at this point, comforting precisely because nothing about them is new.

Some traditions are about gathering.

A Harry Potter marathon every year. The Winter Classic on New Year’s Day with family. Shared screens that create a rhythm to the day, where no one is really watching closely, but everyone is together.

And some traditions hold cultural meaning that’s lasted a lifetime.

Chinese food and NBA games on Christmas Day. A ritual that’s followed one teammate from childhood into adulthood, unchanged, familiar, and grounding in the best way.

Others are wonderfully specific.

White fudge Oreos. Les Misérables. The kind of combination that created inside a family, which is exactly why it matters.

As for me, Benn Marine here, I’m right there with the classics. Christmas music is always on. I love watching the parade on Christmas morning. The Polar Express will probably always be my favorite Christmas movie, and I’ve got a soft spot for Red One, too (I’m admittedly a big fan of the Rock). This year, though, I’m also noticing something new: a quieter relationship with media overall. Letting some of it play, opting out of other parts, and being okay with that balance.

Taken together, these responses say something simple and important.

Media isn’t just where brands show up. It’s where people return. It’s how we mark time. It’s how we stay connected to who we were and who we’re with now.

Today, we’re not thinking about metrics or placements. We’re just grateful for the stories, sounds, and shared moments that make a day like this feel like itself.

However you’re spending your attention today, we hope it feels familiar, comforting, and entirely your own.

Happy Holidays from all of us at Campfire.