The Norwegian postal service has released its annual Christmas commercial, but this year’s campaign is causing quite a stir because it depicts Santa Claus in a same-sex relationship.
The sweet, well-crafted, and truly emotional commercial depicts the story of a guy and Santa, who form a relationship based on his yearly visits to the house. When the two men are having fun together, Santa exclaims, “I have a lot of presents to deliver.”
As the years pass, the stolen-moment nature of their relationship wears on Santa, so he goes an extra step to spend more time with his beau – he hires the postal service to deliver presents instead. As the commercial concludes, the two embrace a passionate kiss. A concluding title card reads, “In 2022, Norway marks 50 years of being able to love whoever we want,” referring to the decriminalization of homosexuality half a century ago.
The video rapidly went viral, and its progressive message drew good feedback from all across the internet. While Christmas love stories are prevalent in the United States, the great bulk of programming on the Hallmark Channel and Lifetime is heteronormative – but progress has been made this year in terms of depicting different partnerships on television.
In Europe, yearly Christmas commercials are a tradition in which longer-than-usual commercials are created to run throughout the holidays. This Norwegian commercial is almost four minutes long and is virtually a short film.
In the video, you can see a beautiful Santa love tale.
