Santa - just another advertisement

Don't tell the kids, but Santa is just another advertisement.

Hear me out, this is not one of those "we've lost the true meaning of Christmas" - this is about the power of advertising.

Picture Santa. Odds are you see a jolly [chubby] man, rosy cheeks, big red suit, and black boots. Until yesterday, I had never thought about why Santa is this way, when did he evolve from St. Nick to the jolly man that we all picture, and who gets credit for this?

The answer [or, at least one theory] is Coca-Cola. In 1931, Coca-Cola began running magazine ads featuring St. Nick as a "kind, jolly man in a red suit." Before that, Santa was a range of characters. So, why did Coca-Cola's Santa stick? The power of advertising. In the 30s the viewership of the magazines featuring Coke's Santa was wide-spread [rumor is they didn't have the internets back then.] And perhaps without being aware of it, this began to shape North America's image of Santa.

Coke may have also introduced elves to Santa's lore. In the 40s and 50s Santa appeared with a little helper, Sprite Boy. Sprite, the soft drink was not yet introduced [and wouldn't be for another decade.] Sprite actually means elf.
Coke is not willing to take full credit for Santa [nor should they, I suppose.] Check out their article here which fully explains Coca-Cola's Santa.

Full credit aside, it seems impossible to deny the impact that Coke had on the modern-day Santa. Even if Coke just influenced Santa, or was just a part of the mix that created the image that we all grew up with, that is still an amazing credit to the power of advertising.