Marketers are using animated characters to light up the holiday TV ads. We can see polar bears, gingerbread men, and Rudolph the Red-Nose Reindeer and these are just some of the characters that show up in the ads.

Companies are trying to make sales out of the holiday season.

According to the National Retail Federation, almost $474.5 billion are expected to be spent by consumers in November and December, USA Today reports.

The animated ads have a wide range from the emotional, touchy-feely like the one for a Starbcuks’ add when penguins give hot coffee to a window washer, to the edgy one like the one for a spot for AT&T's prepaid GoPhone when a gingerbread man is mad at humans for eating his home.

All the ads have one purpose: to differentiate themselves from the other holiday commercials.

Daryl Evans, head of advertising for AT&T's (T) wireless unit said: "A lot of parents say the holidays will be a good time to give a phone.” The cartoon commercial will “break out from all the other holiday ads” according to his sayings.

Its rival, Alltel Wireless, created its own commercial, with the Alltel spokesman “Chad” and his rivals are represented by nerdy sales guys. In this commercial they use stop-motion animation, thus creating an “emotional connection” with the viewers who recall such stop-motion holiday classics like 1964's Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, according to Mark Simon, executive creative director at Alltel agency Campbell-Ewald.

The process of making such an add is very laborious and involves frame-by-frame manipulation of figures. It took almost seven weeks to complete this add.

Some of the themes that are used by companies into their animated holiday ads are: humans into caricatures for the ad for teen clothier American Eagle Outfitters (AEO). They used celebrities like Heroes' Milo Ventimiglia and Friday Night Lights' Adrianne Palicki for online promotions.

Aflac revived characters like Rudolph, Hermey the Elf and The Abominable Snow Monster for their TV ad, but their idea is now that the Aflac duck is leading Santa’s sleigh.

Coca Cola is using its polar bears ad from 2005. Now is the one with the animated polar bear family who joins a penguin party.