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History of Marketing: Santa Claus

Snow is in the forecast, the calendar for 2011 is nearly at its end, and the holiday marketing blitz is in full effect. Once images of Santa Claus begin to flood our homes, there’s no doubt about it; Holiday Season 2011 is in full swing.

One of the great myths about Santa is that his modern incarnation was developed by the Coca-Cola company. According to this article at Snopes, that just isn’t the case. We’ve all had a hand in shaping the modern image of Santa Claus. Jolly Ol’ St. Nick, as we know him, came to be sometime around 1820. Since then, he’s become the focus of countless holiday marketing campaigns. Why? Santa Claus represents everything that is good about the holiday season. With so many different celebrations happening in December, he is a symbol that we can all recognize and identify with. He embodies the joy, giving, and love of cookies we all have this time year. These are all reasons why Mr. Claus is ubiquitous leading up to Christmas Day.

What are your favorite holiday marketing campaigns? Let’s talk about them in the comments.

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