Whether or not they continue to air in 2024, Christmas-themed commercials that aired year after year are easily conjured in the minds of TV viewers. Whether it’s Santa Claus riding a Norelco razor through the snow, Peter coming home for a cup of Folgers or Hershey’s Kisses as bells, plenty of TV ads have replayed over the years, offering familiarity and nostalgia from a familiar brand seeking to worm its way into viewers’ consciousness.
“An ad campaign that plays in 2022 doesn’t simply continue to play unless it stays popular and works, but at Christmastime, all the rules are completely thrown away,” said Robert Thompson, founding director of the Bleier Center for Television and Popular Culture at Syracuse University’s Newhouse School of Public Communications.
He notes the Christmas songs that chart on the Billboard 100 at the holidays are often not new, but songs released decades ago (last week, Mariah …