Haddon Sundblom illustrated the Coca-Cola Santa Claus advertisements that shaped the modern popular image of Santa.
Beginning in 1931, Coca-Cola commissioned Sundblom to create warm, human-looking Santa illustrations for its Christmas advertising. He based the character partly on the description in Clement Clarke Moore’s poem “A Visit from St. Nicholas,” rather than inventing Santa from nothing.
Sundblom’s paintings emphasized a friendly, jolly figure with a full white beard, red clothing, and a believable human presence. Coca-Cola’s extensive distribution of the images helped make this version especially influential.
The advertising did not create Santa Claus or the color red. Earlier art had already shown Santa in varied forms and colors. Sundblom’s contribution was to popularize a particular modern interpretation.