How Coke Created Santa

by Olga Gromova

Santa Claus is a famous man; he is loved in every household, is the star of countless movies, and has children leaving him milk and cookies every Christmas Eve. He’s the jolly old fella that we tried catching a peak of every year on the 24th of December, and is now the only thing our kids talk about when the Christmas season rolls around. His appearance is no big secret, we watch him in commercials, admire him on billboards, and take pictures with him at the mall. So it’s no surprise that when you ask someone for a description of the famous Claus, the response you get is always the same: jolly old man with a big belly, white beard, red suit with white fur lining, and a big smile on his face.

This may come as a shock, but Santa was not always “jolly”, in fact, back in the early 1900’s we was a bit of a creeper. If you saw him in person you wouldn’t let your kids get anywhere near him, let alone sit on his lap and ask him for presents. This is where Coca Cola came into play and re-created Santa into the man we all know and love.

The Civil War cartoonist Thomas Nast drew Santa Claus for Harper's Weekly in 1862; Santa was shown as a small elf-like figure who supported the Union.

In the 1920’s Coca Cola began its winter advertising with shopping-related ads to remind people that Coke was a drink for any month, not just warm weather. This began with the “Thirst Knows No Season” slogan in 1922 and grew into a campaign connecting Santa Clause with the beverage. The first images of Santa associated with Coca Cola were more of the strict looking Clause, but in the early 1930’s Coke decided that the creeper had to go and commissioned Michigan born illustrator, Haddon Sundblom to re-create the image of Claus. Thus, the new, jolly version of Santa was born.

The Coca Cola Santa has had a powerful and enduring quality that continues to resonate today, so in a way, we can say that Coke saved Christmas. If it wasn’t for the Coca Cola brand, I would be terrified to think that a creepy old elf was crawling down my chimney every year, eating my cookies, drinking my milk and sitting on my couch. Instead I am pleased to see the happy, robust, old man who greets you with a “ho ho ho” and brings the goodies you’ve been waiting all year to play with. So this year I think I’ll toss out the milk and leave Santa an ice cold Coke next to the chimney instead.