The Santa Claus Story: Did Coca-Cola Really Make Him Red?

Let's start from the beginning.

Santa Claus comes from Saint Nicholas, a Christian bishop who lived in the 4th century in Myra (now in Turkey). He was famous for helping poor people and children. Saint Nicholas wore red and white robes because bishops traditionally wore these colors.

When people moved from Europe to America, they brought different Christmas traditions with them. The Dutch brought their "Sinterklaas" (Saint Nicholas), and slowly this character mixed with other traditions to become "Santa Claus."

How Santa's Look Changed Over Time

Here's where it gets interesting. Santa didn't always look the same.

In 1823, a poem called "'Twas the Night Before Christmas" described Santa as a jolly man with rosy cheeks and a white beard. But it didn't say what color his clothes were!

So artists started drawing Santa in different colors:

• Some drew him in green

• Others used tan or brown

• Some even drew him in yellow

• A few showed him in blue

The artist Thomas Nast drew Santa many times for Harper's Weekly magazine. His most famous image, "Merry Old Santa Claus," appeared in 1881. This happened 50 years before

Coca-Cola's advertising!

Here's the important detail: Nast's illustrations were printed in black and white, so he didn't actually specify the bright red color. But his drawings helped move Santa away from tan and brown colors toward what would become the red suit. Different artists still used various colors (green, blue, yellow) throughout this period.

By the early 1900s, most artists were drawing Santa in red. Red-suited Santas with white fur trim and black belts appeared in advertisements as early as 1906 and 1908.

The Coca-Cola Campaign That Changed Everything

So if Santa was already wearing red, what did Coca-Cola do?

In 1931, Coca-Cola had a problem. Nobody wanted to drink cold soda in winter. They needed a Christmas marketing campaign.

They hired an artist named Haddon Sundblom to paint Santa for their advertisements. For more than 30 years (from 1931 to 1964), Sundblom created Santa images for Coca-Cola.

What made these ads special?

Sundblom's Santa was:

• Warm and friendly (not scary or distant)

• Very realistic (he looked like a real person you could meet)

• Consistent (he looked the same every year)

• Everywhere (in magazines, billboards, store displays)

The ads appeared in popular magazines like The Saturday Evening Post, Ladies Home Journal, National Geographic, and The New Yorker. Millions of people saw them every Christmas.

Coca-Cola didn't invent Santa's red suit, but they did something more powerful: they standardized it. They made one version of Santa so famous that it became THE version everyone recognized.

The myth started because:

1. Coca-Cola's colors are red and white

2. Their Santa wore red and white

3. Their ads were EVERYWHERE for 30+ years

4. People assumed Coke must have created the look

But even Coca-Cola itself says Santa wore red before their ads, crediting Thomas Nast's earlier work.

What Marketers Can Learn From This

This story teaches us powerful lessons about branding:

1. You Don't Need To Invent — Amplify What Already Works

Coca-Cola didn't create Santa's red suit. They found an image that was already becoming popular and made it universal. Sometimes the best marketing strategy is recognizing what's already working and making it bigger.

Lesson: Don't always try to reinvent the wheel. Look for cultural trends that are already gaining momentum and amplify them.

2. Consistency Builds Recognition

For 33 years, every Coca-Cola Santa looked the same. Same red suit, same friendly smile, same jolly character. This consistency made Santa instantly recognizable.

Lesson: Keep your brand image consistent across all platforms and over time. Consistency creates familiarity, and familiarity builds trust.

3. Emotional Connection Beats Everything

Sundblom didn't just draw a man in a red suit. He created a character people loved. His Santa was warm, real, and made you feel good. People cared so much about Coca-Cola's Santa that when small details changed in the paintings, they wrote letters to the company.

Lesson: Create brand characters and campaigns that connect emotionally with your audience. Make them care.

4. Ubiquity Creates "Truth"

Because Coca-Cola's Santa ads were everywhere for decades, people started believing Coke invented Santa's look. Being everywhere made people think they created something even when they didn't.

Lesson: Consistent, widespread presence in your market makes your brand the default in people's minds. Be where your customers are, repeatedly.

5. Association Is Powerful

Even though Coke didn't make Santa red, the strong association between Coca-Cola's red branding and Santa's red suit made people connect the two. This is genius brand alignment.

Lesson: Align your brand with existing symbols, holidays, or cultural moments that already have positive emotions attached to them.

6. The Best Marketing Doesn't Feel Like Marketing

Coca-Cola's Santa ads didn't scream "BUY OUR PRODUCT!" They told a story. They created art. They gave people something beautiful to look at during the holidays. The soda was just part of the scene.

Lesson: Create content that people want to see, not just ads they have to tolerate. Give value first, sell second.

7. Timing Matters

Coca-Cola launched their Santa campaign to solve a specific problem: winter sales were slow. They connected their product with the biggest winter celebration.

Lesson: Find the perfect timing to connect your brand with cultural moments when your audience is already engaged and emotional.

8. Standardization Creates Market Dominance

Before Coca-Cola, Santa's appearance was still somewhat fluid. By standardizing one version, Coca-Cola helped create a universal Santa that everyone recognized. Now, any Santa in a red suit reminds people of Christmas — and subtly, of Coca-Cola.

Lesson: If you can help standardize something in your industry (a practice, a look, a method), you position yourself as the leader.

The Bigger Picture

The real genius of Coca-Cola's marketing wasn't creating Santa's red suit. It was recognizing a character who was already loved, giving him a consistent and appealing image, and then putting that image everywhere for three decades.

They didn't change history — they wrote themselves into it so successfully that people now think they DID change history. That's the ultimate marketing success.

Today, when you see Santa in a red suit anywhere in the world — in movies, stores, or your neighbor's yard — you're seeing the result of centuries of cultural evolution, dozens of artists' creativity, and yes, one very smart marketing campaign that knew how to amplify what was already working.

The myth that Coca-Cola made Santa red is wrong.

But the fact that everyone believes it? That's the proof of perfect marketing.

So this Christmas, when you see Santa in his red suit, remember: he's been wearing red since 1881. Coca-Cola just made sure you'd never forget it.