The Legend of Coca-Cola and Santa Claus

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The Legend of Coca-Cola and Santa Claus

December 26th, 2015

Awake Goy

The Santa Claus we all know and love – that big, jolly
man in the red suit with a white beard – didn’t always look that way. In
fact, many people are surprised to learn that prior to 1931, Santa was
depicted as everything from a tall gaunt man to a spooky-looking elf. He
has donned a bishop’s robe and a Norse
huntsman’s animal skin. ~ Slad – Video

In fact,
when Civil War cartoonist Thomas Nast drew Santa Claus for Harper’s Weekly
in 1862, Santa was a small elflike figure who supported the Union. Nast
continued to draw Santa for 30 years, changing the color of his coat
from tan to the red he’s known for today.

1. Santa Has Been Featured in Coke Ads Since the 1920s

The Coca-Cola Company began its Christmas advertising in the 1920s with shopping-related ads in magazines like The Saturday Evening Post. The first Santa ads used a strict-looking Claus, in the vein of Thomas Nast.

In 1930, artist Fred Mizen painted a department-store Santa in a
crowd drinking a bottle of Coke. The ad featured the world’s largest
soda fountain, which was located in the department store Famous Barr Co.
in St. Louis, Mo.

Mizen’s painting was used in print ads that Christmas
season, appearing in The Saturday Evening Post in December 1930.

2. Coca-Cola Helped Shape the Image of Santa

In 1931 the company began placing Coca-Cola ads in popular magazines.
Archie Lee, the D’Arcy Advertising Agency executive working with The
Coca-Cola Company, wanted the campaign to show a wholesome Santa who was
both realistic and symbolic.

So Coca-Cola commissioned Michigan-born
illustrator Haddon Sundblom to develop advertising images using Santa
Claus – showing Santa himself, not a man dressed as Santa.

For inspiration, Sundblom turned to Clement Clark Moore’s 1822 poem “A Visit From St. Nicholas”
(commonly called “‘Twas the Night Before Christmas”).

Moore’s
description of St. Nick led to an image of a warm, friendly, pleasantly
plump and human Santa. (And even though it’s often said that Santa wears
a red coat because red is the color of Coca-Cola, Santa appeared in a
red coat before Sundblom painted him.)

Sundblom’s Santa debuted in 1931 in Coke ads in The Saturday Evening Post and appeared regularly in that magazine, as well as in Ladies Home Journal, National Geographic, The New Yorker and others.

From 1931 to 1964, Coca-Cola advertising showed Santa delivering toys
(and playing with them!), pausing to read a letter and enjoy a Coke,
visiting with the children who stayed up to greet him, and raiding the
refrigerators at a number of homes.

The original oil paintings Sundblom
created were adapted for Coca-Cola advertising in magazines and on store
displays, billboards, posters, calendars and plush dolls. Many of those
items today are popular collectibles.

Sundblom created his final version of Santa Claus in 1964, but for
several decades to follow, Coca-Cola advertising featured images of
Santa based on Sundblom’s original works.

These paintings are some of
the most prized pieces in the art collection in the company’s archives
department and have been on exhibit around the world, in famous locales
including the Louvre in Paris, the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto, the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, the Isetan Department Store in Tokyo, and the NK Department Store in Stockholm.

Many of the original paintings can be seen on display at World of Coca-Cola in Atlanta, Ga.

3. The “New Santa” Was Based on a Salesman

In the beginning, Sundblom painted the image of Santa using a live
model – his friend Lou Prentiss, a retired salesman. When Prentiss
passed away, Sundblom used himself as a model, painting while looking
into a mirror. Finally, he began relying on photographs to create the
image of St. Nick.

People loved the Coca-Cola Santa images and paid such close attention
to them that when anything changed, they sent letters to The Coca-Cola
Company.

One year, Santa’s large belt was backwards (perhaps because
Sundblom was painting via a mirror). Another year, Santa Claus appeared
without a wedding ring, causing fans to write asking what happened to
Mrs. Claus.

The children who appear with Santa in Sundblom’s paintings were based
on Sundblom’s neighbors – two little girls. So he changed one to a boy
in his paintings.

The dog in Sundblom’s 1964 Santa Claus painting was actually a gray
poodle belonging to the neighborhood florist. But Sundblom wanted the
dog to stand out in the holiday scene, so he painted the animal with
black fur.

4. Santa Claus Got a New Friend in 1942

In 1942, Coca-Cola introduced “Sprite Boy,” a character who appeared
with Santa Claus in Coca-Cola advertising throughout the 1940s and
1950s.

Sprite Boy, who was also created by Sundblom, got his name due to
the fact that he was a sprite, or an elf. (It wasn’t until the 1960s
that Coca-Cola introduced the popular beverage Sprite.)

5. Santa Became Animated in 2001

In 2001, the artwork from Sundblom’s 1963 painting was the basis for
an animated TV commercial starring the Coca-Cola Santa. The ad was
created by Academy Award-winning animator Alexandre Petrov.

Source

December 24, 2015 – KnowTheLies