Forget M&S and their penguins, Christmas doesn't begin properly until the iconic Coca-Cola trucks start appearing on television. The soft drinks brand has been using sentimental festive ads to shift bottles of coke for nearly six decades.
It's fascinating to see how their TV advs have evolved over the years...
1958
The first Coca-Cola advert to feature Father Christmas came in the 1950s and with no CGI effects to rely on, the soft drink company had to improvise...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5voJxjGAP8
1961
Connie Clausen is delighted with her family size bottle of Coca-Cola, although whether the kids will be getting any after scoffing all the sweets on the Christmas tree is another matter...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwFu8puxHSA
1977
In the seventies Coca-Cola enjoyed a huge amount of success with its 'I'd Like To Teach The World To Sing' campaign, which featured people of all ethnicities singing in harmony and in 1977 the company decided to do a Christmas special.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zCsFvVg0UY
1993
Nearly as famous as the Coca-Cola trucks, the polar bears first appeared on our screens over 20 years ago in this festive advert featuring - what were at the time - groundbreaking CGI effects.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPoM2o9kIBM
1995
The Coca-Cola trucks or 'Holiday Caravans' as the soft drinks company likes to refer to them, made their debut in 1995 and the commercial was re-edited and repeated for two subsequent years in 1996 and 1997.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQ8icLgshdo
1998
The second Coca-Cola Christmas truck commercial came in 1998 and featured a lad getting a special present from Santa...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCtBCBjwHzQ
1999
A final one was filmed for the following year and repeated until 2001 - when Coca-Cola decided to ditch the famous lorries. But after receiving thousands of messages demanding their return, Coca-Cola relented and brought them back in 2007!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvMbx_nEXho
2005
Penguins and Polar Bears may live at opposite ends of the planet, but why let that spoil a good Christmas ad?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xL4DbMAe-d0
2010
Father Christmas has continued to feature heavily throughout the decades, but even St Nick can't rival the trucks or the Polar Bears - both of whom still star in Coca-Cola adverts to this day!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6f2uF_ddKQ
2014
And this Christmas? It's a back to basics message: Give a Little Happiness...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzAdl56QcC0
