The iconic coca cola truck will be visiting a city near you.

Click here to see the 2015 Coca-Cola Christmas Truck tour dates and cities

Its starting to feel a lot like Christmas. Well, if you believe everything the television tells you that is. Yes, the Christmas adverts are now on our TV screens, battling to get our attention before the big day. But when it comes to Christmas television adverts, there is one that beats all others. You can forget Monty the Penguin, it’s the Coca-Cola Christmas truck that gets everyone really excited, with the iconic image of the truck convoy driving through the wintry landscape spreading Christmas cheer to everyone. And this year, they could be coming to a city near you.

Holidays are coming! Holidays are coming!

Following on from last year’s successful tour, the iconic Coca-cola Christmas trucks are once again travelling the country to spread some cheer. Visiting over 40 locations, each truck stop will bring a mini Christmas festival with seasonal music and a free Coca-cola.

coca-cola-stop-locationsjpg

Coca-cola Christmas stop locations

coca-cola-truck-23jpg

The Christmas Caravan

The iconic adverts first appeared in 1995. Created by advertising agency W.B. Doner, the famous advert was further enhanced by special effects from Industrial Light and Magic (ILM), the company behind Star Wars and Raiders of the Lost Ark. Incredibly popular, the successful campaign spread across the world through the web, TV and radio adverts. To help spread their message further, Coca-cola created a similar advert to help celebrate Diwali.

Did Coca-cola make Father Christmas red?

Christmas and Coca-cola have been synonymous for a long time, with the drinks company fully embracing the festive period as a chance to increase their brand. One common myth is that Coca-cola changed Father Christmas from wearing green to the red colour we now know and love – coincidentally the same colour as the Coca-cola logo. Although this is untrue, the drinks company did play a big part in Father Christmas the iconic jolly figure we have today.

father-christmas-paintingjpg

According to the official Coca-cola website, back in 1931 the company was looking to use Father Christmas in one of their ad campaigns. The problem was, up until that point the image of Father Christmas or Saint Nick varied from culture to culture. In some he was elfin, others tall and gaunt, sometimes even frightening. Coca-cola commissioned Haddon Sundbloom to paint a new Santa Claus for their adverts. Sundbloom, a Swedish-American artist, came up with the jolly red bearded grandfatherly figure. As Coca-cola’s adverts spread, so did the image of Father Christmas that we know and love today.

More from Creditplus:

Want to know what makes a great car television advert? We took a look at some of the best to see what elements are needed to make a cracking ad.

Creditplus car review: The Fiat 500, a fantasticly quirky urban drive. Find out what our customers are saying and see some of the great deals available.

Best car videos of the week – Driving dogs? Jet bikes? All included in our viral car video roundup.