Coca-Cola Created Modern Santa: The Untold Story of a Marketing Masterpiece

• The universally recognized image of Santa Claus (plump, red suit, jolly) was largely a 20th-century advertising creation by Coca-Cola.
• Before 1931, Santa's depictions varied widely, often appearing thin, monk-like, or elf-like, in various colors like green, brown, or blue.
• Facing plummeting winter sales during the Great Depression, Coca-Cola commissioned illustrator Haddon Sundblom in 1931 to create a warm, human, and likeable Santa.
• Sundblom's Santa, inspired by Clement Clarke Moore's poem and modeled after a friend, wore a rich red suit trimmed with white fur, perfectly matching Coca-Cola's branding.
• The campaign, which ran for over three decades (1931-1964), solidified this image, making the "Coca-Cola Santa" the unquestioned, global symbol of Christmas.

Why It Matters: The iconic Santa Claus we know today was a brilliant marketing creation by Coca-Cola, not an ancient tradition.