At first, it’s unclear who is playing Santa Claus at the start of Xfinity’s new Christmas commercial. After all, it could be anyone behind that beard. But, the moment he delivers that first “Ho-ho-ho,” it’s clear that it’s Steve Carell. The Anchorman star has been completely transformed into a picture-perfect Santa Claus, prompting the question – is it too soon to reboot The Santa Claus?
“Ho-ho-ho. Good morning, everyone—you know, I can’t even fake it,” says Santa Carell. It seems that 2020 has been rough even at the North Pole. “Look, after the year that we’ve just had, the usual gifts are just not going to cut it. So, we have to find something else. And fast. That’s all. Figure it out. Good luck!” From there, we learn that 1) Santa also doesn’t wear pants when he has to work from home and 2) his elves need a raise. After all, when given this incredible and seemingly impossible task, they figure out what the world needs this Christmas: togetherness.
With a little North Pole magic (and a little help from Supertramp’s “Believer”), Santa’s workshop was able to capture “all those family moments that make the holiday and package them.” From “Family Snowball Fights” to the “Smell of Grandma’s Cooking” to even “Grandpa’s Same Old Stories,” the elves distill Christmas down to what really makes the holiday important: the feeling we get from spending time with each other. And, in the time of COVID-19, that feeling could be still experienced through the high-speed connection of Xfinity – at least, that’s what the ad is conveying.
The question now is: who makes the better commercial Santa? Is it Steve Carell or is it John Travolta? While Santa Steve was selling “togetherness” for Xfinity, Capital One recruited the Saturday Night Fever star for their Kris Kringle. John, 66, looked just like Santa when he took a Zoom call from none other than Samuel L. Jackson.
Yes, for Christmas, Capital One decided to give everyone an impromptu Pulp Fiction reunion. During the ad, Samuel tried to see if he could get off the Naughty List by telling Santa about how Capital One could save him some money. “Are you off the naughty words?” asked Santa Travolta. From there, Santa and Mrs. Claus danced just like John and Uma Thurman’s scene in the Quentin Tarantino classic. In between Steve, John, and Kurt Russell reprising his role for The Christmas Chronicles 2, it’s hard to pick who is the best Santa!