What year did Coca-Cola launch its famous Santa Claus ad campaign?
- 1921
- 1931
- 1941
- 1951
See the answer below!
The pause that refreshes
In 1929, Coca-Cola launched this famous slogan as part of a radio marketing campaign in the midst of the Great Depression. Given the market’s behavior over the past week, the slogan seems fitting – I mean, not the 1929 part, but the taking a pause part – especially after a quick 4% rally in the S&P 500 since Nov. 4.
Looking at the collapse in the VIX from 22 to 14, it seems the angst and anxiety related to uncertainty around the U.S. Election is being alleviated from the minds of investors. With the Election behind us, investors will now turn their attention to the state of the economy, earnings, policy, and the construction of the incoming Trump administration, with several key positions named last week.
The U.S. economy continues to plow forward, as was noted by Jerome Powell last week in comments he made regarding the underlying strength of the economy. As a result, he took that opportunity to temper expectations for the pace of future interest-rate cuts, which served to reset investor expectations for future policy path and created a profit-taking opportunity heading into the end of 2024 (which has been the strongest year to date since 2000 – see chart of the week below).
With third-quarter earnings largely in the rearview mirror and a slow week of economic data due this week, it sets up a backdrop of listless market behavior, which may lead to additional profit taking and portfolio repositioning heading into the holidays and a different Coca-Cola campaign.
The most significant data due this week will likely be PMIs, where investors will be looking for indications of continued strength in the U.S. services sector as well as any signs of expansion in the U.S. manufacturing sector. The persistence of interest rates at current levels may create headwinds for acceleration in manufacturing, given companies in the space tend to be more mature in their lifecycle and have more debt on their balance sheets than the service sector. Yet, any signs of acceleration in manufacturing have the potential to add to the ongoing economic momentum in the U.S. economy. And that is worthy of a refreshing pause.
- U.S. Politics – Republicans completed the sweep of Congress with majorities in both the Senate and the House of Representatives.
- Inflation – U.S. Headline CPI comes in at 2.6% versus estimates of 2.6% on a year-over-year basis, with Core CPI coming in at 3.3% versus estimates of 3.3% on a year-over-year basis.
- U.S. Policy – Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell made comments to temper rate cut expectations given the underlying strength in the U.S. economy.
2024 – The Best Year of the Century?
Source: Bloomberg Finance LP, Deutsche Bank
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Before 1931, there were many different depictions of Santa Claus around the world. When Coca-Cola commissioned an artist to depict Santa in their advertisements, they established the jolly Santa image widely used today, drawing inspiration from “Twas the Night Before Christmas.”
