Whatculture! will return you to your regular internet browsing after this brief commercial interruption. Compiled here, you'll find some of the most cherished, and enduring Christmas commercials of all time. It's fitting that we stop and pay tribute as the holiday commercials that have accompanied our
favourite Christmas TV specials over the years have become just as much of a tradition as the shows themselves. Yes, of course I know about concerns about the commercialization of Christmas and all that stuff, but really it doesn't bother me like it used to. Stores spend all year advertising and trying to get us to buy their wares, so why should we expect them to stop around Christmas? And in all honesty, it is only around Christmas that advertising takes on a different tone: there is an element of caring, joy, peace, and wonder that seems to emanate from even the most Scrooge-like of companies in their December advertising campaigns. The message may not have changed (BUY OUR STUFF!!) but the method softens somewhat around this time of year. So, as we pause and take time to enjoy these commercials, they should serve as an ardent remember of the many manifold miracles that Christmas brings as the "buy, buy, buy and gimme, gimme" culture that permeates our society eleven months of the year takes a backseat as the eternally enduring slogan of Christmas past comes to the forefront... "Peace on earth, good will towards Men."
10. Santa's Norelco Shaver
Ask your parents about this one. In this classic Christmas commercial, we see Santa catching a ride through the snow on one of Norelco's premium shavers, and while it doesn't make a whole lot of sense (Santa ditching Rudolph for a whisker trimmer!?) it's a great commercial, nonetheless. The ad is successful for a couple of reasons: firstly the claymation - it's common knowledge that claymation and Christmas go together like peanut butter and jelly (just ask Rankin and Bass) - and secondly, the slogan. Yes, it may seem too simple, combining the closeness of Christmas with the closeness of a shave, but sometimes the simplest slogans are the best ones. Anyway, the slogan must have worked, because the Norelco Santa ad has become one of the most famous and fondly remembered ads in television history. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BVk6JKDa3zI