Probably each of us knows a large, red Coca-Cola truck driving to the catchy song "Christmas is getting closer." Add to that the iconic image of a corpulent Santa Claus dressed in red.

It cannot be denied that Coca-Cola ads have not only entered a specific canon of marketing history, but have also revolutionized the symbolism of Christmas - and actually all over the world! What is the history of this unique marketing campaign and was the image of Santa Claus embedded in pop culture really invented by Coca-Cola?

We'll explain in a moment!

How to sell a cold drink in winter

The history of Coca-Cola commercials known to us dates back to the 1930s. The drink has been selling successfully since the early 1920s, but mostly in summer. The company was looking for a way to reduce the seasonality of the product and encourage people to eat it also in winter. For this purpose, it was decided to use the occasion best associated with this season - Christmas.

Santa Claus as we know it

Coca-Cola decided to refer to the beloved figure of Santa Claus, but his "original" image, as a good, albeit strict in appearance, bishop did not fully fit into the canon of the brand. The original was replaced with the image of a funny, corpulent, bearded old man dressed in a characteristic red outfit.

But was Coca-Cola inventing this image? Although there is such a belief, it is not true - the fluffy and friendly Santa Claus in a red suit was created by the 19th-century cartoonist, Thomas Nest. It was his engravings that inspired the employees of the concern.

Oil paintings, i.e. the demanding art of advertising

Today, advertising graphics are created quickly with the help of digital techniques. Nevertheless, in the past, it took a real painter to create them. The first artist working for Coca-Cola was Fred Mizen. It was he who made the first advertisement in 1930 with a bearded old man holding a bottle of carbonated drink.

Later, the task of creating Coca-Cola advertising graphics fell to Haddon Sundblom, who worked with the brand until 1964, and from under his brush came about 40 oil paintings depicting Santa Claus with Coca-Cola. Here are some interesting facts: Sundblom looked for inspiration in Mizen's original work and poetry - specifically from the poem The Visit of Santa Clement Moore. He also did not paint from memory - for years he was helped by his friend Lou Prentiss, who was his living model! After his death, Sundblom tried to cope with… himself.

It's turn to the truck

Perhaps the best-associated Coca-Cola Christmas ad is the ad featuring beautifully lit red trucks with the drink's logo and the image of Santa Claus by Haddon Sundblom.

The first edition of this famous advertisement took place in 1995. The short spot showed a caravan of Coca-Cola glowing trucks going to the music "Wonderful dream / Holidays are comming". The advertisement was created by the WB Doner agency, and Industrial Ligh & Magic took care of the spectacular lighting.

Although the creation required a huge amount of work and financial resources, it did its job - it made a huge impression on consumers, conquering the hearts of people practically all over the world. Already in 1996, i.e. only a year after the advertisement was produced, special "Santa Packs" referring to it were selling like hot cakes not only in the USA, but also in Great Britain, Australia, Hong Kong, South Africa and the Philippines!

In Poland, of course, we also got this ad. However, the clip was accompanied by the Polish version of the song "Wonderful dream / Holidays are comming". It is called "Christmas Closer" and is performed by Anna Szarmach.

Unique 2020 edition

Given the exceptional situation around the world in 2020, Coca-Cola decided to produce a special edition of the Christmas advertisement. The 2-minute, large-scale spot was directed by Oscar nominee Taika Waiti. The commercial can be described as a short adventure film about proximity, in which ... of course, there is also a bearded man in a characteristic red truck!

 

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