The Norelco Santa Ad Is A Classic Christmastime Memory
Santa's got a brand new... razor!
Once upon a time, the annual Rankin/Bass animated Christmas shows marked the beginning of the holiday season. Well, they still do for many, but they used to truly rule the three television networks around Thanksgiving and the beginning of December. And, during the commercial breaks of those classic shows that the whole family watched after dinner, guess who popped by to say hello?
Well, someone just buzzed into our holiday season...
Why, the Norelco Razor-riding Santa!
Why was Santa riding a... giant razor? Well, there's a story.
I realize this sounds kind of quaint today. However, in the 1970s, any animation was still a novelty, and seeing top-notch stop-motion animation on your new color television set was a cool thing. So, again, why was Santa riding a giant razor? Well, you might well ask, and I'm here to tell you!
A modern updating of the classic Norelco ad using 3D animation.
It was a brilliant marketing job begun by Norelco in 1961 and that ran for 24 consecutive years. Norelco was a company that, among many other things made electric razors. Norelco's job was to convince people that electric razors, which were still relatively new, were cool and better than the straight razors that most men (and women, but that's another story) still used. What better way to do this than to have Santa himself vouch for their usefulness - and right when women were buying their men gifts? And, that is why Santa rode Norelco razors every single holiday season throughout the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s.
To summarize, the Norelco Santa Christmas commercial is one of the most successful spots in advertising history. This Norelco commercial set the standard for all holiday spots. It was in the same league as the famous singing "I want to give the world a Coke" ads. Animation comes in all sorts of venues, not just films or television shows, and the Norelco Santa ad proved that quality animation could be outstandingly effective advertising.
Look, I know some of you are scratching your heads and thinking, a commercial? He's writing about a commercial? I want to avoid commercials! But let's just go with it, okay? These were classic spots. There are a lot of folks with great childhood memories of these Norelco Santa ads which are fused with the good times of the holiday spirit when families spent the season together and all watched the big TV together in the living room! And those were times when you had no laptop or smartphone to watch instead of that big TV set everyone else was watching! I know, right? How could that be? But people watched the shows together and actually enjoyed themselves. Hard to believe, I know, but there it is.
Highlights from the famous Norelco Christmas spot.
The Norelco Santa spot is one of the most ubiquitous but little-discussed instances of cutting edge animation. In fact, the Norelco ads, in a kind of odd reverse feedback loop, actually went a long way toward popularizing stop-motion animation. which had a spotty reputation due to some primitive 1950s and 1960s attempts that looked quite cheesy.
Let's step back a bit in case you are confused, Norelco is the American brand name for the electric shavers and other personal care productions of the Philips Domestic Appliances and Personal Care unit of the giant Dutch Philips company based in Eindhoven.
They adopted this name because, back in the 1940s, another company, Philco, objected that "Philips" sounded too much like their name. So, Philips came up with a new name that sounds suspiciously like it came from Northern Electric Company or some variation on that. The name problem went away many years ago (Philips bought Philco in 1981), but by then Philips had built Norelco into a valuable brand - largely because of the Santa TV ads. So, the name stayed Norelco. Since then, Philips has retained the Norelco trade name in the United States probably in no small measure because of the goodwill built up via the Norelco Santa Christmas commercial. And that, my friends, is a tale of how the tail sometimes wags the dog.
Norelco Santa Christmas commercials have been running since the 1960s, but only hit their stride in the 1970s. During that decade, the Norelco Santa was one of the most advanced pieces of animation anywhere, and not just in television commercials. They took a hiatus for a while but returned in 2011 in computer-generated form. Let's take a moment to appreciate the creative genius who somehow realized that electric razors have a vague resemblance to sleighs and then ran with that idea all the way to the bank.
My personal favorite out of all the ads is the 1971 edition, above, which has snowmen heads turning (including a female snow-person, in deference to who was almost certainly going to be the one buying the men their shavers) and an almost continuous Santa sleigh ride in the background. Later ads focused more on the actual products and less on Santa's sleigh ride - what nerve!
Back in the day, Lady Norelco was revolutionary. Women have to shave?
The Norelco Santa Christmas ad was the only animation that many people saw every day on television. In quality, the Norelco Santa Christmas ad rivaled the Rankin/Bass holiday specials and, as noted above, often aired during them (Rankin/Bass or some of the people who worked there may have had a hand in making the Norelco spots, too).
Lest you think that Norelco somehow invented commercializing Christmas...
In those days, animation on television was primitive, and it almost never was used in commercials, especially those targeted at grown-ups. Quality animation was not what you would expect to see during that commercial break when it was time to go into the kitchen and fix a quick sandwich. In an advertiser's dream scenario, people actually preferred the Norelco television spots to the actual programs themselves. Many people could not tell if the commercials were actually part of the program or not. That is heaven for advertisers!
The Norelco ads became increasingly elaborate, with superior animation.
The accompanying Norelco Santa Christmas Commercial jingle to some versions - and it sure was a jingle in different senses of the word! - went: "Floating heads, floating head, floating all the way/Norelco is the shaving gift to give on Christmas day." Apparently, the voice-over was by Peter Thomas (or maybe Art Linkletter, they sounded quite similar).
The Norelco Santa Christmas commercials would end with the deliberate mis-spelling of "Norelco" to “Noëlco,” accompanied by the tag line, "Even our name says Merry Christmas." People "got" corny jokes like that in those days.
Political correctness eventually put a stop to that version of the Norelco Santa Christmas, oh wait, "Seasonal" ad. Those were more innocent and less culturally sensitive times.
Santa taking off on his Norelco razor.
Unbelievably, the Norelco Santa Christmas commercials are still shown in some places today. They do not have the same high profile as once they did but rest assured that Phillips still gets mileage out of its razor-driving Santa. They now incorporate modern technology such as CGI and 3D, but they retain the same old quaint holiday spirit.
Print advertising tied in with the tv spots in a subtle fashion.
The latest Norelco Santa ad rolled out in 2011. It is called "Santa's New Ride" and fuses stop motion animation with CGI. The stop motion elements for this recent Norelco Santa ad were created by BixPix, while the blend of CGI and the stop motion footage was handled by re-think studios.
It really doesn't look as though Santa uses that electric razor too often...
You may never see that ad, but it is proof that the Norelco Santa ad campaign not only survives but continues to push the boundaries of animation technology.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this visit down Norelco, uh, Noëlco Lane.
Every little girl loves a doll that does more than just sit there and look pretty.
There's nothing wrong with looking pretty, mind you! But here we have a doll that does a lot more than that!
Cry Babies Interactive Baby Dolls are fun interactive toys! If you aren't familiar with them, a little girl you know probably is!
Cry Babies have big eyes and adorable, colorful outfits!
Some of the Cry Babies dolls have different accessories. However, all of them have pacifiers which are very important to how they function.
Cry Babies cry real, watery tears. Unlike a lot of dolls, Cry Babies have no separate hair, so you cannot comb it or anything like that.
Some Cry Babies also can get "sick" and their skin can glow red. Fortunately, you can make them "feel better" by giving them special medicine and lots of love!
Two AA batteries are included.
Cry Babies are recommended for young children. The exact minimum age may depend upon which doll you select, so be sure to check that.
When they have a pacifier, removing it will cause the Cry Baby to cry.
When the Cry Baby shouts and cries, you can stop it by rocking her to calm her down.
You only need to add water for the real tears.
The Cry Baby dolls weigh about one pound to two pounds apiece.
The dimensions of the Cry Baby dolls are about 7 inches by 12 inches.
Cry Baby dolls currently retail for about $20-$25 (prices vary for different dolls even within the same retailer), though you can find them for more or less at various outlets.
The Cry Baby dolls have cute names like Hally, Jenna, Pearly, Fantasy Dreamy, Dotty, Lady, Floppy, Lena, Fantasy Bruny, Kristal, Lea, Fancy, Bonnie, Lammy, Katie, Coney, and Lala.
The Cry Baby dolls can be a little difficult to operate at times. For instance, it can be difficult to put the pacifier in their mouths. Also, it can be difficult to get the battery compartment open.
The crying of the Cry Babies does not last very long. She cries for a little while and then stops. Plus, she runs out of water for tears pretty fast.
As you can see from the pictures, the head of the Cry Babies dolls is large relative to the body.
Also, you cannot be too rough with the Cry Babies doll, as they are somewhat fragile.
The batteries that come with the Cry Babies doll wear out fairly quickly, so make sure to have some spare AA batteries handy.
The crying sound is a little unusual. You should try to hear what the crying sounds like before you purchase a Cry Babies doll just to make sure that you like it.
The Kristal Cry Babies doll comes with a stethoscope, thermometer, medical bracelet, cough syrup, medicine injection, pacifier, and instruction manual.
Each Cry Babies doll comes with a changeable animal print onesie.
You cannot put Cry Babies dolls in the tub because - remember! - they have batteries and the water would harm them.
Cry Babies dolls are great for teaching small children what it means to be a parent and caring person.
You can also stop the Cry Babies doll from its crying by laying it down.
Each Cry Babies doll has fully articulated head, arms, and legs to make them more fun to play with and pose!
The size of the Cry Babies dolls makes them perfect for small hands.
One caution about the Cry Babies dolls is that they are not very soft. Some people expect very soft dolls, and these are not soft.
Don't think that Cry Babies dolls are only fit for the youngest children. Five-year-old girls may love their Cry Babies dolls just as much as the younger ones do!
Since there are so many different Cry Babies dolls, if your child likes hers, you can always get another one! It might be a bit pricey and take up a lot of room to buy all of them, however!
Cry Babies dolls became available in the United States in mid-2018. They are still wildly popular and show no signs of going away anytime soon!
