Submitted by giuliomagnifico t3_zy5sef in todayilearned
Reply to comment by croninsiglos in TIL that the narrative that Coca-Cola designed the modern Santa Claus as part of an advertising campaign is not true, because Coca-Cola did start using Santa in advertising in 1933. But Santa had been portrayed almost exclusively in red from the early 19th century by giuliomagnifico
Aah yes, big corporations never lied. Lmao
What do you think they are lying about in that link?
Not lying about one thing does not Change the fact that we should not trust them
And to add, the link from this trustworthy company does not say the same thing as the link from OP from the guardian.
But Please go ahead and gobble on coca cola propaganda as you wish
So... they're not lying? What was the point of your comment then?
This is a weird thing to get your panties in a twist about. Chill, it's just a story about a made up dude.
*I didn't see anything inherently contradictory in either articles
Coca Cola claims that there were many depictions before their ads, when it’s not true. If you read the guardian piece and compared what is on the Coca Cola website you would see the difference.
There were many depictions though...
German saint Nicholas (although similar) was skinny with a tall hat for instance. In Norway he wore green, in some English depictions he didn't have a white beard. It doesn't say they created the image, only that they popularized the image that is now what most people think of as Santa Claus. And they did by putting that image in all their advertising that was put everywhere.
My great grandma had a couple dozen Santa statues from all over the world, they varied quite a bit.
>Not lying about one thing does not Change the fact that we should not trust them
That's... not a very useful way of looking at things. Whether or not you trust what someone says should be based on a number of factors, their trustworthiness, sure, but also their motivations and what they would gain by telling the truth or lying.
Coca Cola would probably have a lot to gain by pushing the idea they invented the image of Santa Claus. The fact that it would so easily disprovable if they were to claim that they did is also another reason to expect them to be telling the truth in this instance.
That said they do seem to push the idea that they somehow solidified his appearance from a number of other depictions, which isn't really true, or at least they're vague enough in their wording to imply it without stating it. The modern image of Santa existed before Coca Cola began advertising.
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/the-claus-that-refreshes/
>There was a period of overlap during which the modern Santa Claus character coexisted with other Christmas figures and other versions of himself, as his now-standard appearance and persona jelled and his character grew in popularity to become the dominant (secular) Christmas figure in the western world. However, that period had ended before Coca-Cola began utilizing Santa for their holiday season advertisements. As noted in a New York Times article published in 1927, four years before the appearance of Sundblom's first Santa-based Coca-Cola ad, the Santa Claus figure rendered by Sundblom was based upon what had already become the standard image of Santa:
>
>--
>
>Coke's annual advertisements featuring Sundblom-drawn Santas holding bottles of Coca-Cola, drinking Coca-Cola, receiving Coca-Cola as gifts, and enjoying Coca-Cola became a perennial Christmastime feature which helped spur Coca-Cola sales throughout the winter (and produced the bonus effect of appealing quite strongly to children, an important segment of the soft drink market). One might therefore fairly grant Coca-Cola some credit for cementing the modern image of Santa Claus in the public consciousness, as in an era before the advent of television, before color motion pictures became common, and before the widespread use of color in newspapers, Coca-Cola's magazine advertisements, billboards, and point-of-sale store displays were for many Americans their primary exposure to the modern Santa Claus image. But at best what Coca-Cola popularized was an image they borrowed, not one they created.
[deleted]
Sorry for trusting guardian more than coca cola. And as I wrote in the comment you replied they are not saying the same thing. Cocacola claims it popularized the santa claus in the current form, when guardian says that this form was almost in every portrayal in the XIX century.
Weird thing to get your parties in a twist just because someone does not trust your beloved corporation.
It says what the top comment in this thread said, like quite literally in the first 2 sentences. They said they didn’t invent Santa Clause but helped shape it. Taking a bunch of regional ideas and putting it into one character and because it was nation wide advertising that idea spread everywhere.
Viewing a single comment thread. View all comments