Santa Claus History: The first thought that comes to mind when the name Christmas comes is that of a chubby, cheerful old man wearing a red suit carrying a bag of toys on his back, roaming around saying “ho-ho-ho”. Yes, Santa Claus! But do you know that this form of Santa Claus that we know today is not real. What you know, and now even recognize, is the creation of Coca-Cola, one of the world’s largest cold drink brands. But why did Coca-Cola do this? This story is quite funny.
To understand the truth we have to go back a little in time. In the folklore of the 19th century and before, the form of Santa Claus or ‘Saint Nicholas’ was not at all the same as we see in advertisements today. If we look at the books and paintings of that period, we can see that Santa Claus sometimes looked like a thin, tall sage, and sometimes he looked like a short and slightly scary elf. The color of his clothes was also not confirmed. He was often seen in green, brown, blue or dark yellow colored robes. Till then the world had not seen the ‘jolly’ i.e. happy face of Santa.
Santa Claus continued to be depicted like this until the 20th century. (Image – AI)
Coca-Cola’s troubles: economic recession, winter season on top
The 1930s gave birth to the Santa Claus we know today. America was going through a huge economic recession (The Great Depression) at that time. At the same time, Coca-Cola Company was stuck in a strange problem. Till then Coca-Cola was considered only a ‘refreshing summer drink’ i.e. a thirst-quenching sherbet in summer. As soon as the mercury dropped and snow started falling, people forgot about Coca-Cola. Why would anyone want to drink ice cold cola in the bitter cold? The company’s warehouses were full and sales had come to a complete standstill. The top executives of Coca-Cola had understood that if the business had to be saved, then it would have to be removed from the minds of people that Cola is only for summer. He wanted to associate Coca-Cola with winter and especially ‘Christmas’.
Coca-Cola’s demand was bubbly Santa
The world’s biggest marketing masterstroke started from here. Coca-Cola decided that they would create an advertisement that would touch people’s hearts. In the year 1931, the company entrusted a special responsibility to a famous illustrator and artist Haddon Sundblom. The company’s demand was clear that they wanted a Santa Claus who was neither a scary dwarf nor a strict sage. They wanted a Santa whom people could love and who could be seen spreading happiness.
Santa’s red dress
Hayden Sundblom started the work. He used one of his friends as Santa’s model. His friend was a retired salesman. Hayden gave Santa the appearance of a very lovable, chubby and cheerful grandfather. He had a long white beard, rosy cheeks, a mischievous twinkle in his eyes and a smile that could make anyone’s day. And the biggest change was the color of his clothes. Hayden dressed Santa in a rich red fur suit and hat. This red color was no coincidence, it was the signature red color of Coca-Cola’s logo.
Anti-fatigue drink for every season
In 1931, this Santa’s advertisement was published in big magazines like ‘Saturday Evening Post’. Coca-Cola showed Santa that he was tired and was drinking Coca-Cola to relieve his fatigue. The message of the advertisement was very deep, “A drink to remove fatigue, for every season”. Coca-Cola played an ’emotional card’. He convinced the children that Santa also likes Coca-Cola. Within no time, Coca-Cola sales started skyrocketing even in winter.
Chubby Santa stuck in people’s mind
The company did not stop. For the next 33 years, Haden Sundblom created new paintings of Santa every year. Sometimes Santa is seen playing with children, sometimes stealing cola from the fridge, and sometimes distributing toys. Coca-Cola spread this picture everywhere. The boards, posters, newspaper pages and magazines outside the shops were all covered with pictures of this red dressed Santa. This campaign was so powerful that the world gradually forgot the old Santa. Now, for the people, Santa Claus meant the same fat and cute man in a red suit.
The effect of this advertisement, which ran for years, was that today this image of Santa Claus has become a ‘global standard’. Be it America, Europe or India, the same Coca-Cola version of Santa is used everywhere. This is a miracle in the world of marketing, where a product not only advertised itself, but also redefined the character of a folktale.
