Santa Claus in advertising
The image of Santa Claus has been used to advertise many products, especially during the Christmas and holiday season.
Coca-Cola[edit]
Haddon Sundblom's depictions of Santa for The Coca-Cola Company have been credited with popularising the modern image of Santa Claus, including his iconic red suit.[1][2][3][4] However, similar depictions of Santa were becoming the standard before Coca-Cola's depictions of Santa,[5] and had also been used by White Rock Beverages to advertise their products.[6] From 1919 until the 1970s, Santa appeared on numerous advertisements for cigarettes,[7] alcohol, lingerie, guns, ammunition,[8] and mouthwash.[9]
Symbol of commercialism[edit]
As a result, Santa began to be seen as a symbol of commercialism to many. In his book Nicholas: The Epic Journey from Saint to Santa Claus, writer Jeremy Seal describes how the commercialisation of the Santa Claus figure began in the 19th century. "In the 1820s he began to acquire the recognizable trappings: reindeer, sleigh, bells," said Seal in an interview.[10]
Writing in Mothering, writer Carol Jean-Swanson makes similar points, noting that the original figure of St. Nicholas gave only to those who were needy and that today Santa Claus seems to be more about conspicuous consumption:
Our jolly old Saint Nicholas reflects our culture to a T, for he is fanciful, exuberant, bountiful, over-weight, and highly commercial. He also mirrors some of our highest ideals: childhood purity and innocence, selfless giving, unfaltering love, justice, and mercy. (What child has ever received a coal for Christmas?) The problem is that, in the process, he has become burdened with some of society's greatest challenges: materialism, corporate greed, and domination by the media. Here, Santa carries more in his baggage than toys alone![11]
In the Czech Republic, a group of advertising professionals started a website against Santa Claus, a relatively recent phenomenon in that country.[12] "Czech Christmases are intimate and magical. All that Santa stuff seems to me like cheap show business," said David König of the Creative Copywriters Club, pointing out that it is primarily an American and British tradition. "I'm not against Santa himself. I'm against Santa in my country only." In the Czech tradition, presents are delivered by Ježíšek, which translates as Baby Jesus.
A law in the U.S. state of Ohio prohibits the usage of Santa Claus or his image to sell alcoholic beverages. The law came to attention when the beer brand Bud Light attempted to use its mascot Spuds MacKenzie in a Santa Claus outfit during a December 1987 ad campaign; Bud Light was forced to stop using the imagery.[13]
More recently, he is associated with advertising products children like, e.g. candy.[14] This marketing is not limited to the Western world; in Thailand, for example, the American Santa Claus is seen as exotic and is widely used to advertise products.[15]
References[edit]
- ↑ Crothers, Lane (15 January 2021). Globalization and American Popular Culture. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 78. ISBN 978-1-5381-4269-1. Search this book on
- ↑ Coombs, Danielle Sarver; Batchelor, Bob (15 January 2014). We Are What We Sell: How Advertising Shapes American Life. . . And Always Has. ABC-CLIO. p. 229. ISBN 978-0-313-39245-0. Search this book on
- ↑ Metcalfe, Mike (18 April 2006). Reading Critically at University. SAGE. p. 94. ISBN 978-1-84860-515-2. Search this book on
- ↑ Dalamu, Taofeek Olaiwola (2017). "Yuletide Ideology as Advertising Ideology an Historical Illumination from Saint Nicholas to the Present Day". FACTA UNIVERSITATIS - Linguistics and Literature. 15 (2): 143–161. ISSN 0354-4702.
- ↑ Mikkelson, David (18 December 2001). "FACT CHECK: Did Coca-Cola Invent the Modern Image of Santa Claus?". Snopes.com. Retrieved 23 December 2021.
- ↑ "The Use of Santa Claus in Advertising Through The Years". Marketing + Advertising. 18 December 2014 – via Medium.com.
- ↑ Giovanelli, Janet (13 October 2020). The True Story of Santa Claus: The History, The Traditions, The Magic. Simon and Schuster. p. 67. ISBN 978-1-951274-42-9. Search this book on
- ↑ Hawkins, Paul (2013). Bad Santas: And Other Creepy Christmas Characters. Simon and Schuster. p. 223. ISBN 978-1-4711-2986-5. Search this book on
- ↑ Marchand, Roland (16 September 1985). Advertising the American Dream: Making Way for Modernity, 1920-1940. University of California Press. p. 275. ISBN 978-0-520-05885-9. Search this book on
- ↑ How St. Nicholas Became Santa Claus: One Theory, interview with Jeremy Seal at the St. Nicholas Center.
- ↑ "In defense of Santa Claus". Archived from the original on 26 December 2007. Retrieved 7 September 2016. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help), Carol-Jean Swanson, Mothering, Fall 1992. - ↑ "Better Watch Out, Better Not Cry". Archived from the original on 20 January 2007. Retrieved 2007-12-13. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help), Hilda Hoy, The Prague Post, 13 December 2006. - ↑ "Spuds Can't Promote Beer Dressed as Santa". Associated Press. 2 December 1987. Retrieved 23 November 2012.
- ↑ Grills, Nathan J.; Halyday, Brendan (17 December 2009). "Santa Claus: a public health pariah?". BMJ. 339: b5261. doi:10.1136/bmj.b5261. ISSN 0959-8138. Unknown parameter
|s2cid=ignored (help) - ↑ Okleshen, Cara; Baker, Stacey Menzel; Mittelstaedt, Robert (1 January 2000). "Santa Claus does more than deliver toys: Advertising's commercialization of the collective memory of Americans". Consumption Markets & Culture. 4 (3): 207–240. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.116.1230. doi:10.1080/10253866.2000.9670357. ISSN 1025-3866. Unknown parameter
|s2cid=ignored (help)
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