Seeing Santa Claus, a beloved figure of childhood, promoting tobacco products seems shocking today. However, in the past, this was a common advertising tactic. Vintage ads featuring Santa endorsing cigarettes and other tobacco products offer a strange and unsettling look at advertising history.
These advertisements appeared in various forms. They were in magazines, newspapers, and even on billboards. They used Santa’s image to associate smoking with positive feelings like warmth, generosity, and holiday cheer. The idea of using Santa to sell cigarettes seems bizarre now. But at the time, smoking was much more socially accepted. It was often portrayed in movies and on television as glamorous or sophisticated.
These vintage ads often showed Santa enjoying a cigarette or pipe. He might be relaxing by the fire, delivering presents, or even sharing a smoke with elves. The ads aimed to normalize smoking by associating it with a universally loved figure.
One common theme in these ads was associating smoking with relaxation. Santa, after a long night of delivering presents, would be shown taking a break with a cigarette. This implied that smoking was a way to unwind and relieve stress.
