Christmas and television have been close partners almost from the beginning. When television emerged as a mass medium in the 1950s, advertisers quickly realized that Christmas offered something other advertising seasons couldn’t quite match. Families were gathered around the television during the holidays with children dreaming about presents while their parents were shopping for gift ideas, which gave advertisers the perfect audience. Over the decades, some of those commercials became so familiar that viewers stopped thinking of them as advertisements at all. They became part of Christmas itself.
The 1950s
The earliest Christmas commercials were relatively straightforward. Department stores, toy companies, food manufacturers and appliance makers used the new medium to show Americans what they could buy for Christmas. Television was still a novelty, and the commercials reflected that. But something important was happening: advertisers were learning that Christmas itself could be a selling tool. A toy wasn’t simply a toy. It was the look on a child’s face on Christmas morning. A kitchen appliance wasn’t simply an appliance. It was part of the perfect holiday dinner. A camera wasn’t merely a camera. It was a way to capture and preserve Christmas memories.
The 1960s
The 1960s produced one of the first truly iconic Christmas advertising characters: Santa Claus riding a giant Norelco electric shaver. Introduced in 1961, the stop-motion campaign was an eye-catcher and a precursor to the popular Rankin and Bass holiday specials, which kicked off in 1964 with Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. Santa’s sleigh had been replaced by a giant razor and, for Christmas, the company even changed its name to “Noëlco” in the ads. The commercial was so successful that Norelco continued using the concept for decades.
Coca-Cola, meanwhile, continued strengthening its association with Santa and the holidays and even sponsored the first broadcast of the 1965 A Charlie Brown Christmas animated special, recognizing the power of Christmas.
The 1970s
By the 1970s, advertisers had figured out that the most effective Christmas commercial didn’t necessarily need to spend much time talking about the product. Coca-Cola’s legendary 1971 “Hilltop” campaign featured young people from around the world singing about teaching the world to sing. The campaign became a cultural phenomenon and eventually produced the hit song “I’d Like to Teach the World to Sing.”
Other companies took a different approach. Kraft’s Christmas advertising showed families preparing holiday food, Pillsbury put its Doughboy into Christmas baking, and Kodak promoted cameras as a way to capture holiday memories.
Hess took another approach and turned its toy truck into a Christmas tradition for generations of children. The Hess Christmas truck would eventually become one of the most recognizable holiday collectibles in America. (see our feature story about the Hess Toy Truck phenomena).
The 1980s
The 1980s produced some of the most emotionally powerful Christmas commercials in television history. Folgers’ “Peter Comes Home” featured a son unexpectedly returning home for the holidays. The commercial aired on Chicago television on December 9, 1985, and became one of the most recognizable holiday commercials of its generation.
Budweiser took another approach with its magnificent Clydesdales. Snow, Christmas trees, horses and softly lit homes transformed a beer advertisement into something resembling a Christmas card.
One of the simplest commercials ever made became one of the most enduring. Hershey’s introduced its Christmas Bells commercial in 1989, turning individual Hershey’s Kisses into a tiny bell choir performing “We Wish You a Merry Christmas.”
Watch:There were no actors, no elaborate story and almost no dialogue. The commercial was so successful that it became a holiday fixture for decades and eventually received a CGI update while retaining the basic concept.
By this point, a company didn’t necessarily have to explain its product. Everyone already knew what a Hershey’s Kiss was. The job of the Christmas commercial was to make the product feel like Christmas.
The 1990s
The 1990s ushered in a golden age of recognizable advertising characters and short-form storytelling. Campbell’s famous 1993 snowman commercial featured a snowman trudging through the cold before sitting down with a bowl of Campbell’s chicken noodle soup. As he eats, the snow melts away to reveal a little boy.
Then came M&M’s unforgettable Christmas encounter with Santa. Red and Yellow discover that Santa actually exists while the big guy discovers that the M&M characters actually exist.
And then came the trucks.
In 1995, Coca-Cola introduced its “Holidays Are Coming” campaign, featuring a glowing convoy of red Coca-Cola trucks traveling through a snowy nighttime landscape.
Coca-Cola eventually stopped regularly airing the original commercial, but viewers wanted it back. People weren’t demanding the return of a television program or a Christmas special. They were demanding the return of a commercial. It was no longer simply selling Coca-Cola. It was announcing the season.
The 2000s
As television became increasingly fragmented and the Internet changed the way people consumed media, Christmas commercials evolved again. Brands began producing spots designed not only for television but also for sharing online. Christmas advertising became increasingly cinematic, emotional, and international. The commercial could premiere on television and then live indefinitely on YouTube and social media. A successful Christmas advertisement could be watched millions of times, discussed online, and returned to air every December.
The 2010s
Apple’s 2013 “Misunderstood” commercial offered a perfect example of the new generation. A teenager appears to be ignoring his family during Christmas while staring at his iPhone. Then comes the twist: he has secretly used the phone to create a video celebrating his family.
The commercial was eventually recognized with an Emmy for Outstanding Commercial. More importantly, it barely resembles the 15-second product pitches of television’s early years. It is essentially a tiny Christmas movie with a product woven into the story.
That transformation is significant. Modern Christmas commercials can run a minute or more, premiere online before television and accumulate millions of views. Advertisers now compete not only for attention but for emotion and conversation.
Why Christmas commercials have became so powerful
Christmas advertising reaches consumers precisely when they are thinking about gifts, food, travel, entertaining and family celebrations. The greatest Christmas commercials have always understood that people don’t necessarily want to be sold something during the holidays. They want to be reminded of something they already love: Christmas.
What began as a way for companies to sell more products during the busiest shopping season of the year became something much more interesting: a reminder that Christmas was coming while harkening back to Christmases past. Christmas commercials had become as familiar as the holiday songs, movies, and television specials that we revisit every year during the holidays. And somewhere along the way, these commercials became a part of Christmas itself.
