Who do you think about when you think about the upcoming holidays? Chances are you think about Santa Claus before you even think about your family. Although Saint Nicholas has his origins in religions, today he is the brand of a conspicuous consumerist holiday. Santa isn’t the only example of an evolved character. Here’s more on Father Christmas and another one of the most prolific commercialized avatars.
Santa Claus has a whole entanglement of origins – a 4th-century Greek Christian bishop, kidnapper of naughty children, a god from Norse paganism, even a wealthy generous sailor. Santa usually gave us holiday cheer; it was not until the end of the industrial revolution, when the reality of mass production became affluent in Western culture, that Santa began handing out commercial goodies and began appearing in commercial goodies as well! Since the end of the 19th century, he is seen widespread as a jolly bountiful man in his Coca-Cola red suit and decked out sleigh and reindeers.
Another great example of universal commercialized characters is Mickey Mouse. Mickey slightly beats Santa in Google results by a mere 700,000 pages. He has evolved from an anthropomorphic mouse to the symbol of one of the world’s largest media and entertainment corporation. This 80-year-old mouse has stretched beyond his cartoon medium into toys, clothing video games, and even on bootleg bags and foreign TV shows.
Can you think of any other examples of avatars that have evolved into a commercialized brand? Better yet, are there any that have progressed rather than evolve for the benefit of consumerism?