Santa Claus is one of the greatest business icons of all time and the holidays are a great time for marketing. It is a legendary character who talks about Christmas, gifts, family reunions, and in a very little known way, Coca-Cola.
The Coca-Cola Company and Haddon "Sunny" Sundblom.
The origin of the person who brings gifts to the "good children" during Christmas Eve in the West has made the most famous soft drink brand in the world a mandatory reference. The Coca Cola Company's manufacture of Santa Claus is so similar to that of a Christian bishop named Nicols that his traditional clothing was transformed to match the brand's motifs.
Coca-Cola launched a Christmas advertising campaign in 1931 that focused on a Santa Claus wearing white and red.
The first illustrations of Santa Claus were drawn in the American Civil War by Thomas Nast, who drew a little elf supporting the soldiers at Christmas. The basis for the Coca-Cola campaign would be this image.
The company began using the character in advertisements for magazines in the 1920s, and used an image a lot. They decided to use the slogan "Thirst knows no season" because they wanted to change the idea that Coca-Cola was a drink for hot weather.
In 1930, Fred Mizen painted a picture of a Santa drinking a bottle of Coca-Cola in a department store and it was used in print ads for the Christmas season. The Coca-Cola's advertising agency decided to use the symbol in 1931 and in the following years after his success.
The Swedish artist Haddon Sundblom was commissioned by the company to change the traditional image of Christian folklore into that of Santa Claus.
The painter modeled his work on a friend of his who was a retired salesman and he had gained some of the same characteristics as Saint Nicholas. She made him taller, with a thicker face and merry eyes.
After reading Clark Moore's poem 'Twas the Night Before Christmas', Sundblom began to modify his model for the next 33 years, incorporating his children and grandchildren into the character images. She took advantage of her resemblance to Santa to become her own role model. The artist died in 1976.
The stock of the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, the Louvre in Paris, and the Royal Ontario Museum are all made up of images from Coca-Cola.
Coca-Cola's Christmas campaigns around the world have used the paintings that the artist painted between 1931 and 1966 as a reference point. The success of this campaign has made Santa Claus an icon of Western culture and the non- religious holidays of the season.
There are some other Coca-Cola ads.
What do you think of the Christmas icon?
All images are owned by The Coca-Cola Company.
