Homosexual santa
A Norwegian Christmas advert has sparked a vigorous debate with some critics accusing postal service Posten Norge of sexualizing Christmas with their depiction of a gay Santa Claus.
The postal service released a 4 minute advert to their Youtube channel earlier this week where Santa Claus struggles to balance his Christmas duties and his boyfriend.
The video was posted to the channel on November 22 and has already amassed over 1 million views.
The video depicts the couple's first encounter and showed that the pair would spend an evening together around Christmas time before Santa returns to his present-delivering duties.
The frustration of only seeing Santa once every year leads his partner, the unamed protagonist of the video, to transmit a letter to the North Pole with the message "all I want for Christmas is you."
Ahead of their next gathering a Posten worker delivers the man's Christmas present with Santa remarking that this year he decided to get some serve for deliveries.
The pair then split a passionate kiss and the camera pans out of the home into the sky to show mult
Back in November , the film Carol (starring Rooney Mara and Cate Blanchett) was released and millions of gay people everywhere fell in love with this very gay, Christmas movie. Fast forward to November , and now I genuinely think that Norway&#;s gay Santa advert may just top it for me.
When Harry Met Santa is an advertisement for Posten, the Norwegian postal service, who is using the giving and spiritual time of Christmas to not only present a side of Santa Claus you&#;ve not seen before, but to commemorate 50 years of Norway decriminalizing homosexuality.
Norway&#;s selection of expressing this through an advert depicting Santa as gay may look like an odd preference on the surface, especially if you just notice it solely as a way to for organizations and companies to utilize Christmas in order to appeal to viewers, but I personally feel that the short film is more genuine and benign than that.
If you haven&#;t watched the advert yet, let me offer you a quick summary: we meet Harry, an older gentleman who goes downstairs one night on Christmas Eve to find that Santa Claus is in his liv
Gay Santa ad highlights big shift in Norwegian society
Nordic affairs journalist
Christmas ads have become an annual tradition, often appearing as mini-films with their hold festive story. But one Norwegian commercial, featuring Father Christmas kissing a male waiting for him at home on Christmas Eve, has become a surprise hit.
In When Harry meets Santa, the four-minute ad by Norway's state-run Posten postal service, the man is seen writing Father Christmas a letter to the North Pole with the message: "All I long for for Christmas is you." And he gets his wish.
"We wanted to observe the year anniversary since the abolition of a regulation prohibiting same-sex relationships," says Monica Solberg, Posten's marketing director. The ad has been watched skillfully over two million times online.
"The magnitude of response took us a bit by surprise. We expected a reaction, but not to such an extent."
The ad raised few eyebrows in Norway or in neighbouring Nordic countries, but it has prompted some discussion beyond. As adv as praise
Santa Claus is gay in new Norwegian ad
It is a relationship that developed over the years, where the protagonists meet only every Christmas Eve and very briefly at that, as one of them always has to rush off to work.
In "When Harry met Santa" — a nod to the lovey-dovey comedy "When Harry met Sally" starring Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan — a romance blossoms between a man called Harry and Santa Claus.
This year's Christmas campaign by Norway's state-owned postal service, Posten, aims not only to mark the 50th anniversary of the decriminalization of homosexuality in Norway but also underscores Posten's commitment to a diverse workplace.
In the nearly four-minute ad, Harry bumps into Santa Claus delivering gifts to his home one year. They secure eyes and there is an immediate attraction.
A bond grows between the two over several Christmases, but their encounters are always fleeting, as Santa has a tight deadline to deliver gifts. That is, until he enlists Posten's services to help with the deliveries, leaving the two more time together, so they can finally kiss i