The Story of Coca Claus
by Krishnan Menon

Christmas, the season of holidays, celebration and generally the time for families to get together and put behind them the arguments they had over Thanksgiving dinner. And the man who inspires these feelings of love and hope is none other than jolly old Father Christmas. A man whose history is a sublime mix of legend and facts.

The most popular story about the origin of Santa Claus is the tale of St Nicholas. Legends say that St Nicholas, a 4th century bishop from modern day Turkey, was a hardcore philanthrope. He was particularly famous for giving out secret gifts and for his unrelenting kindness. But this is just the most popular story. And popular stories are not of any interest to us, right?

So let’s take a jaunt at the juiciest of tales. A tale not as old as St Nicholas, but one which has got people really rethinking the way they have come to know Mr Claus. It all began in 1930, when an American softdrinks manufacturer decided to run a wholesome family-oriented Christmas ad campaign. Even today, people believe Santa’s red coat makeover was done because the company’s brand colour was that shade of red.

We are talking about Coca Cola, of course, and their inspiringly famous Santa Claus ads. In the year 1930, Coca Cola commissioned Haddon Sundblom to bring to life the jolly old Father Christmas. Sundblom used the poem ‘Twas the night before Christmas’ written by Clement Clark Moore as inspiration to come up with the warm, approachable, chubby Santa we know today. But every artist needs a model for his painting and the face of the Coke Claus was based on Sundlom’s neighbour Lou Prentiss, a retired salesman. So technically some of us grew up thinking that Lou Prentiss used to come down our chimneys to deliver gifts. Either way, concreting the image of a age old figure like Santa is not an easy task.

If there were to be one example of marketing done perfectly it would be Coke’s Santa Claus. From his introduction in 1930, Santa has been the staple material for Coca Cola’s Christmas advertising. When was the last time any of us saw a green-robed Santa? Even today nearly 80 years later, as Christmas season rolls in, all we see around us is the Coca Cola commissioned Sundblom Santa.

Surely, Coke didn’t invent Santa, but they definitely gave him the makeover he needed to appeal to a dozen generations. This is the epitome of advertising, molding a figure as popular as Santa Claus into a time-tested brand ambassador. Who knows what the next genius advertising the world might see! Maybe PepsiCo will give the Easter bunny a makeover and outdo Coke’s Santa!