Dylan Efron Stars in Playful Yahoo Holiday Campaign

Santa's showing up a bit different this year, thanks to all the time he's saving using Yahoo Mail.

In the latest holiday campaign from Yahoo, “YaHoHoHo,” Dylan Efron stars as a fit Santa who — thanks to saving time with Yahoo Mail — can now pursue his other interests, like lifting peppermint weights and cold plunging. The playful, tongue-in-cheek spot shows how Yahoo Mail can help keep holiday chaos in check, saving time (for everyone, including Santa) with tools that simplify the season.

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The campaign opens in “The North Swole,” where, in his cozy workshop, Efron’s Santa is mid-peppermint curl, grunting a hearty “Ho, Ho, Ho” before pausing to confess:

“‘Tis the season and ‘tis arm day. It’s the most wonderful time of the year! Except when you need gifts for friends, family, and every person on earth. You can relate. Luckily, Yahoo Mail makes the holidays so much easier. It’s so effortless that it’s given me time to do other stuff. Like hit the gym. Check this out.”

Viewers then follow Efron through a series of cheeky moments, like bench pressing festive-colored barbells and drinking a glass of milk topped with a scoop of XMASS protein powder. 

Of course, Santa isn’t the only one juggling a lot this time of year. During the holidays, our inboxes are full of invitations, receipts and online order details, seasonal promotions and more. All of this heightened activity leads to over half of adults saying they experience 'email overwhelm' during the holidays. This includes keeping track of packages, with over 60% of Gen Z and over half of Millennials saying they feel more stressed out about tracking the delivery status of gifts than actually wrapping them! ¹

The latest spot from Yahoo highlights how Yahoo Mail can tame a hectic holiday season, helping people stay organized with features like package tracking — because knowing when your gifts will arrive beats refreshing the delivery page 47 times a day. With Yahoo Mail, people can get a little more time back for themselves, which they can spend happily doing anything other than making a list and checking it twice (or more).

“The holidays are hectic for everyone, but Santa might have it the toughest,” said Josh Line, chief marketing officer at Yahoo. “He basically has the world’s busiest inbox. With this campaign, we imagined what it would look like if Santa used Yahoo Mail the way hundreds of millions of people around the world already do: to keep track of messages, manage packages and bring a bit more order to the chaos. And of course, because we’re Yahoo, we had to bring a sense of humor.”

Efron added:

“This has been a year of firsts for me, from national dance competitions to stepping into Santa’s boots. Luckily all that choreo came in handy for the physical demands of this role. As a Yahoo Mail user myself, I was thrilled when I got the call from Yahoo. Santa has a lot to keep up with — gifts, packages, inbox chaos — and I can relate. Filming this spot was such a fun way to bring that to life."

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The sixty second spot, produced in partnership with BBDO and directed by Hannah Levy, marks the first collaboration between BBDO and Yahoo. It will run on Yahoo socials including Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube. A bonus fifteen second spot, where Efron can be seen using his newfound free time to cold plunge, will also be shared on Yahoo socials. 

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To celebrate, Yahoo will also be giving away limited-edition “Ab-vent” calendars (get it?!). Count down to the holidays by opening an ab a day, each revealing a different sticker with motivational phrases from the spot including “Merry Liftmass” and “Believe in Your Elf.” And yes - they really are Dylan's abs. Ab-vent calendars are free while supplies last here.

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Learn more about new Yahoo Mail features and capabilities, plus how to sign up and link existing email accounts, at mail.yahoo.com.

^{1 Nationwide survey conducted in partnership with Morning Consult, December 2025.}

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About Yahoo

‍‍For 30 years and counting, Yahoo has served as a trusted guide for hundreds of millions of people globally, helping them achieve their goals big and small online through our portfolio of iconic products. For advertisers, Yahoo offers omnichannel solutions and powerful data to engage with our brands and deliver results.

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