Another Christmas Coca-Cola ad from the back of an old National Geographic, dated December 1951. It still amazes me how cleverly Coca-Cola inserted their product into our collective unconscious as a symbol of Christmas. Here you have an iconic version of Santa Claus, sitting at his desk with his book of all the boys and girls who've been naughty and nice. Although the book only says, "Good Boys and Girls," we all know exactly what this means. Santa also has a globe nearby, so we know he's cross-checking the list with their locations (GPS hadn't been invented yet).
It's a classic Christmas concept, and inserted in the middle of this traditional image, we see Santa gripping that tantalizing Coke bottle. I mentioned in my previous post about how seductive gripping those 6 oz. bottles is. The effect must still work because I saw six-packs on sale at my local Target just the other day. The whole concept is tied together with the catch phrase: "Drink Coca-Cola...talk about being good!" Just incredible. I'll take this kind of advertising over hip-hop dancers in Santa hats any day. Never fails to make me feel that warm, Christmas glow, even in the middle of July.
Next time...Christmas 1952.
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