One week and counting until Christmas, and we’re talking chocolate and classic commercials!
No, this is not Throwback Thursday or Flashback Friday, but a day of dispensing some true facts about a classic Christmas commercial that I didn’t even know.
And thanks to the awesome article I found on Delish, I’m well-informed AND my sweet tooth is satisfied!
Win-win, friends!
Surely you’ve seen the magic of this commercial at least once in your lifetime…
This delightful arrangement of happy Hershey Kisses playing “We Wish You A Merry Christmas” is considered to be a classic!
So here’s what I found out about the commercial itself:
The commercial first aired in 1989.
I remember seeing this when it aired the first time, and the many years it did so. It remained in its original, almost completely unaltered (only to add the website address when things like that became a thing) until 2012, when it was redone in CGI.
This version has continued to air since its debut in 2012.
Despite this updating, it is the longest-running television commercial for Hershey.
The Commercial Was Part of Hershey’s “Whimsy” Campaign.
Oglivy and Mather was the advertising agency behind the commercial, and David Apicella served as the Creative Director. According to this article on Delish, John Dunn, Hershey’s brands manager at the time, was working with the ad agency and production company Colossal Pictures to create the ads for the “whimsy” campaign. The team was working ahead of schedule, and Dunn asked two members of the team to come up with a holiday commercial. He wasn’t authorized to work on a holiday commercial, but went ahead anyway, believing that he could sell his boss on the idea.
According to this article on Big Commerce, the idea was born on a flight to San Francisco.
The rest, as they say, is history.
Allison's Written Words
This commercial is fantastic! Here in Pittsburgh, Eat ‘n Park, which is one of our local restaurant chains, has aired the same Christmas commercial since 1982 … and the only thing that’s different is the voiceover artist, wishing us a Happy Holidays. Other than that, this commercial is still the same today.
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