• by Danielle Oster , 2 hours ago

A lot can go wrong around the holidays, from cooking fiascos to shipped items being lost, damaged, or delayed.

DoorDash recently kicked off its 2025 “No One Has To Know” holiday campaign, continuing a theme from last year, focused on the kinds of chaos audiences are navigating with last-minute holiday preparations, and positioning the brand as a timely solution to such problems.

The delivery app shares that message across a series of new ads created in partnership with creative agency Gut Los Angeles, including long-form film ads, social media spots, and collaborative content with influencers.

An “Unthawed” spot in partnership with Kroger, kicking off the campaign, focuses on a dad facing turkey troubles when he fails to properly thaw the bird in time. A follow-up, entitled “Last-Minute Rescue,” looks ahead to the winter holidays, with a parent looking to replace a late delivery by Christmas. The ads were shot by director Win Bates.

Short-form social spots directed by Lee Einhorn -- which include “Helmet,” “Host Meltdown,” “Package Road Trip,” and “White Elephant Caught" -- pick up on a similar theme

“DoorDash has always been about connection and helping people get what they need, when they need it,” DoorDash Head of Brand and Creative Jennifer Richardi said in a statement. “The holidays are full of good intentions and human moments that don’t always go as planned. This campaign celebrates the joy, and relief, of having DoorDash in your corner, no matter what surprises the season brings.”

The brand is teasing a “secret yet to come” as the campaign unfolds. Influencer partners featured in the social campaign include sketch comedy-focused comedian and YouTuber Julia DiCesare; standup comedian and podcast host Jared Freid; and TikTok fashion and lifestyle influencer Courtney Michelle.

The campaign arrives as DoorDash on expanding its range of services beyond restaurant delivery.

Earlier this month, DoorDash announced a retail partnership with Old Navy ahead of the holiday season, one of the platform’s first major fashion retail partnerships. DoorDash’s partnership with Old Navy allows its customers to order apparel and accessories from the retailer, which has more than 1,000 locations across the country, for same-day delivery.

DoorDash CEO Tony Xu also addressed categories where the platform was seeing growth during a Q3 earnings call last month.

“As we head towards the holidays here in the U.S., you see categories like electronics really spike in terms of the gifting use case. We've seen growth in health and beauty. Home improvement has been a very big surprise to us,” he said. “Some of this has to do with when customers need different things.”