Celebrating 75 Years of the Coca-Cola Santa

"Coca-Cola Santa" Celebrates 75th Anniversary
Today's Enduring Vision of Jolly Ole Saint Nick Came to Life in 1931

Atlanta, October 2006 -- Seventy-five years ago, thanks to one man's imagination and artistic touch, the contemporary vision of Santa Claus as a jolly looking gentleman with a white beard was born. Created by Swedish-American artist Haddon Sundblom for a long-running series of holiday advertisements for Coca-Cola, today's cherished version of Santa Claus is at once recognizable around the world as an emblem of the holiday season.

The Coca-Cola Santa was first introduced in 1931, appearing in a series of print ads in The Saturday Evening Post, Ladies Home Journal, National Geographic and other U.S. publications. The captivating images struck a chord with the public, which almost instantly adopted the lovable personification as an enduring symbol of Christmas. Over the next few decades, the artist's depictions of Saint Nicholas evolved into the picture-perfect look of "Father Christmas" -- the man in the red and white suit with the big brass belt buckle.

Sundblom's images of the North Pole's most-famous resident remain the commonly accepted depiction of Saint Nicholas around the globe, passing the test of time and evoking memories and a holiday spirit that transcends national boundaries.

"The Santa Claus illustrated by Haddon Sundblom is remarkable for several reasons, most notably because of the way the artist captured the essence of Saint Nicholas," said Philip Mooney, director of the Archives, The Coca-Cola Company. "Sundblom didn't simply paint a costumed character; he made Santa a human being graced with the gift of immortality, and a physical manifestation of Christmas that was destined to endure."

Before Sundblom came along, no single image of Santa Claus had been universally embraced, and physical portrayals of the famous holiday visitor were as varied as the tales of his origins. Over the centuries, visual images of Santa ranged from a pixie to a leprechaun to a jolly old elf to even a frightening gnome.

In 1931, when The Coca-Cola Company commissioned Sundblom to lend his artistic genius to its holiday campaign, the artist breathed refreshingly human elements into Santa's image, giving him his trademark rosy cheeks, a handsome white beard, twinkling eyes and happy wrinkles.

Sundblom's Santa had such universal appeal that, as distribution of Coca-Cola continued to spread globally and holiday ads featuring Santa reached into other countries, the character born of Sundblom's brush become an established international icon.

"Perhaps most amazing is that the image of Santa Claus today grew from an unassuming effort to more-closely link soft drinks with the winter holidays," Mooney explained. "The Coca-Cola Company in those days viewed Santa as a perfect answer for making that connection. What happened from 1931 forward was part artistry, part marketing and part serendipity."

Sundblom, born in Michigan and raised in Chicago, initially modeled Santa's smiling face after the cheerful, somewhat wrinkled features of a friend, retired salesman Lou Prentiss. After Prentiss passed away, the artist looked in the mirror to find inspiration for future illustrations, replicating the Nordic lines on his own face into the caricature illustrations of Santa.

A legend in the advertising and creative industry from the 1920s until his death in 1976, Haddon Sundblom created more than 40 original oil paintings of Santa Claus for Coca-Cola, until 1964, a full 33 years after the first painting. The various Santa depictions -- still used to this day -- have graced Coke magazine and newspaper advertising, billboards, posters, store displays, packaging, and numerous other collectible items.

As testimony to their impact, most of Sundblom's original Santa artworks have been displayed in several prestigious museums, shopping meccas and popular local venues, including the Louvre in Paris, the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto, the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, the Isetan Department Store in Tokyo and the NK Department Store in Stockholm. This season, the 75th anniversary of the Coca-Cola Santa is being celebrated in the United States with an exhibition featuring a selection of the original Sundblom paintings at Jazz at Lincoln Center, in New York City.

More background and numerous images of the Coca-Cola Santa by artist Haddon Sundblom can be found in the short history entitled "Coca-Cola and Santa Claus" (PDF).

About Coca-Cola
The Coca-Cola Company is the world's largest beverage company. Along with Coca-Cola, recognized as the world's most valuable brand, the Company markets four of the world's top five soft drink brands, including Diet Coke®, Fanta® and Sprite®, and a wide range of other beverages, including diet and light soft drinks, waters, juices and juice drinks, teas, coffees and sports drinks. Through the world's largest beverage distribution system, consumers in more than 200 countries enjoy the Company's beverages at a rate exceeding 1.3 billion servings each day. For more information about The Coca-Cola Company, please visit our corporate website at www.thecoca-colacompany.com.

# # #