Coca-Cola Unveils 'Santa Stories' Short Films Featuring Octavia Spencer

'The Santa Stories' short film anthology was created in collaboration with WPP Open X led by VML, Imagine Entertainment and Prettybird

By creative salon

13 December 2023

Coca-Cola is on a mission to further spread its ethos of ‘Real Magic’ and human connection this holiday season, with a new short film anthology: 'The Santa Stories'.

The global beverage brand has tapped world-class Hollywood talent, award-winning 'Transformers: Rise of the Beasts' director and screenwriter Steven Caple Jr. and 'The Mandalorian' director Bryce Dallas Howard, to bring epic cinematic vision to two new short films.

Developed and produced in collaboration with WPP Open X led by VML, Imagine Entertainment and Prettybird, “The Santa Stories” will be released on Prime Video via Prime Video Direct, Amazon Freevee and Coca-Cola’s YouTube and TikTok channels.

Each film is a reminder of the Santa Claus in all of us and reimagines the representation of Santa in a different way:

'The Note' (directed by Bryce Dallas Howard) stars Irish actor Colm Meaney as the lead protagonist, 'The No Man', whose festive goodwill is restored by a mystery message in a bottle.

'Ho Ho Heist' (directed by Steven Caple Jr.) stars Academy Award winning American actor, Octavia Spencer, Screen Actors Guild Award winning actor, Scoot McNairy and is a heist-thriller in which Santa finds himself in jail.

This is Coca-Cola’s latest offering of branded entertainment content, following the release of its anthology series last Christmas. 'The Santa Stories', forms part of the brand’s wider Christmas marketing campaign 'The World Needs More Santas', illustrating how real magic multiplies when people embrace their ‘inner Santa’ - the spirit of kindness, generosity and goodwill.

Islam ElDessouky, Global Head of Creative Strategy & Content, Coca-Cola said: “Stories have the superpower to move people and inspire change. With these short films we wanted to give more depth to Coca-Cola’s storytelling with authentic narratives we’ve not explored before. Santa is so interlinked with the history of Coca-Cola that we could see a wonderful opportunity to explore another imaginative dimension for what he represents, that people don’t expect to see.

"Harvesting all the creative genius of people that love and interact with our brand has been central to the success of this project. Working with all of the amazing talent on this project has demonstrated a beautiful open-source, co-creation model that makes the brand better, makes the story more impactful and represents the real magic of human connection.”

Bryce Dallas Howard, director, added: “I’m encouraged by a brand like Coca-Cola, which carries a lot of cultural weight, putting their energy behind artists, creatives and storytellers and stories that will move people and give us a moment to breathe and remember who we are. We all want to connect and experience those feelings of love and community, and I felt that profoundly in the collaborative experience of making this film and I hope that’s what people experience when they watch it.”

Director, Steven Caple Jr, commeted: “The biggest thing that drew me to this project was the theme of the world needing more Santas and what does Santa represent to us as people, as a society. The idea that we’re trying to tap into generosity, kindness and how much we’re in need of it all over the world, reminds me of me as a kid, caring for other people, love. All of those things are tapped into this one special holiday and pours into the character of Santa Claus.”

Customers can watch Coca-Cola’s ‘Ho Ho Heist’ and ‘The Note’ on Prime Video via Prime Video Direct and Amazon Freevee. The film is available to Prime Members at no additional cost to their membership and to all customers through Amazon Freevee. People will also be able to watch films on Coca-Cola's YouTube and TikTok channel.