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As dusk settled over America on a crisp November evening in 1995, a cultural phenomenon was about to flicker to life in living rooms across the nation.
Through the blue glow of cathode-ray tubes, millions of viewers witnessed what would become more than just another advertisement—it was the start of a holiday ritual that would reshape the intersection of commerce and seasonal celebration.
The scene unfolded like a winter dream: a convoy of crimson trucks, each one a rolling constellation of Christmas lights, winding their way through pristine snowscapes.
But the true genius lay in the soundtrack, a deceptively simple refrain of "Holidays are coming!" that would embed itself in the collective consciousness of a generation.
It was alchemy—transforming aluminum cans of carbonated beverage into vessels of yuletide memory.
Like master watchmakers, Coca-Cola had assembled the precise components needed to capture lightning in a bottle: nostalgia, anticipation, and the peculiarly American ability to find authentic joy in commercial spectacle.
In 1995, the W.B. Doner advertising team faced a specific task: create a Christmas commercial that would make Coca-Cola the go to drink during the holiday season.
They needed more than actors sipping soda—they needed a physical symbol that could bring joy to the viewers.
The team settled on trucks.
Not just delivery vehicles, but mobile light displays that would transform streets into holiday spectacles.
They designed the first prototypes in white, matching winter's snowy palette.
Then came the critical change.
Someone—likely a brand manager—pointed out the missing element:
Coca-Cola's signature red.
The team repainted the trucks, coating the metal in the exact shade that millions of people associate with the soda brand.
Technicians mounted thousands of bulbs onto the trucks' frames.
Each light required precise placement to create the right glow against the red paint.
The combination—warm lights against the bold color—created the effect they wanted.
The trucks first appeared on TV screens, but Coca-Cola saw bigger potential.
They built real versions of these trucks and sent them into cities.
Children pressed their faces against windows as the trucks passed.
Parents took photos.
The music—a specific holiday jingle—became as recognizable as ice cream truck chimes in summer.
The trucks outlived their original commercial, becoming part of how many people mark the start of their holiday season.
In 1995, a piano melody emerged during a Coca-Cola commercial development session.
The creative team had recorded it as a temporary audio track, expecting to replace it later.
The pianist played four simple notes that would become "Holidays Are Coming."
The melody repeated in a steady rhythm: two short notes, followed by two longer ones.
The music proved impossible to forget.
The team tested other musical options over several weeks, playing dozens of alternative compositions.
However, they kept returning to those four notes.
In their final presentation to Coca-Cola executives, they recommended keeping the placeholder music.
When the commercial aired, viewers responded immediately.
The melody paired perfectly with the image of illuminated red trucks driving through snow-covered towns.
Children would sing along, and parents found themselves humming it while shopping or cooking.
Today, in 2024, those same four notes still signal the start of the holiday season for millions.
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Coca-Cola transformed Christmas advertising in 1931 when they hired artist Haddon Sundblom to paint Santa Claus for their holiday campaigns.
Sundblom created a specific image: a red-suited man with rosy cheeks, crinkled eyes, and a full white beard.
This Santa clutched bottles of Coca-Cola while delivering gifts, combining commercial appeal with holiday charm.
The painting's impact was immediate.
While previous artists had depicted Santa in various ways—sometimes as a tall, gaunt figure or a tiny elf—Sundblom's version became the standard.
His Santa appeared on billboards, in magazines, and on store displays across America.
From 1931 to 1964, Sundblom painted a new Santa portrait each year.
These paintings showed Santa delivering toys, reading letters, or pausing for a Coke break—specific scenes that built a consistent character.
The campaign worked so well that by 1995, when Coca-Cola launched their "Holidays Are Coming" ads featuring illuminated red trucks, viewers already connected the brand with Christmas celebrations.
The campaign didn't prominently feature Santa, but it borrowed key visual elements from Sundblom's work: the deep Coca-Cola red, the golden lights, and the sense of anticipation.
Today, when the trucks visit towns across America and Europe, people still refer to "the Coca-Cola Santa.”
At midnight on December 31, 2011, Coca-Cola launched a new winter campaign that replaced Santa Claus and their signature delivery trucks with images of polar bears navigating shrinking Arctic ice.
The company invested $2 million in Arctic conservation efforts and pledged to match public donations up to $1 million.
Social media erupted with customer complaints.
Facebook comments demanded the return of Santa, while Twitter users questioned why their favorite holiday commercials had vanished.
Sales data from January 2012 showed a 5% decline compared to the previous year's holiday season.
The absence of specific traditions jarred consumers: no illuminated trucks winding through snow-covered streets, no Santa lifting his glass bottle in a toast, no chorus of "Holidays Are Coming" playing in shopping malls across America.
Nine years later, in December 2020, Coca-Cola adapted their campaign to reflect pandemic restrictions.
Their commercials showed the red trucks rolling past homes where families waved from windows.
Instead of gathering in crowds on streets, people watched the trucks from balconies and doorways, maintaining social distance while the familiar jingle played.
The company replaced their usual mall tours and public events with a virtual truck tracker that let families follow the route from home.
By 2001, they transformed this screen image into reality, sending actual trucks onto streets across Europe and North America.
These 40-foot vehicles, wrapped in red and decorated with 30,000 LED lights, visited specific cities on scheduled dates each December.
Families lined up at predetermined stops—usually town squares or shopping centers—to take photos beside the trucks.
Staff members in red uniforms handed out cold cans of Coca-Cola to visitors.
The tours drew crowds of 500 to 1,000 people per stop.
Children pressed their faces against the trucks' gleaming sides while parents aimed their cameras at the 'Coca-Cola' script glowing against the winter sky.
Each truck played the familiar "Holidays Are Coming" jingle through mounted speakers.
Today, the trucks still run modified routes.
Instead of giving out sodas, some stops now offer photo opportunities and holiday music.
In December 2023, Coca-Cola released a 30-second holiday commercial created using artificial intelligence, sparking significant backlash from artists and consumers.
The new advertisement, titled "The Holiday Magic is Coming," featured AI-generated polar bears in an igloo and reimagined Coca-Cola's 1995 "Holidays Are Coming" campaign.
The company used its Real Magic AI platform, powered by OpenAI technology, to produce the content.
The advertisement faced specific criticism on multiple fronts:
Coca-Cola collaborated with three AI partners—Silverside AI, SecretLevel, and The Wild Card—to create different versions of the advertisement for global distribution.
This wasn't Coca-Cola's first AI venture; in 2022, they released "Coca-Cola Masterpiece," which launched their Real Magic AI platform and received notably more positive feedback.
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