1960s Christmas Adverts – The Most Iconic Vintage Festive Campaigns

Discover the most iconic 1960s Christmas adverts – from Coca Cola and Kodak to the first TV commercials. A nostalgic look at vintage festive advertising!

Updated: Mid-May 2026

1960s Christmas adverts were a world away from the blockbuster television campaigns we know and love today.

Yet the warmth creativity and pure festive magic they captured has never really been bettered. This was the golden age of magazine and newspaper advertising and the results were absolutely spectacular.

1960s Christmas adverts were a world away from the blockbuster television campaigns we know and love today — and yet the warmth creativity and pure festive magic they captured has never really been bettered. This was the golden age of magazine and newspaper advertising and the results were absolutely spectacular.

join us as we step back into the wonderfully nostalgic world of vintage 1960s Christmas ad’s!

How Christmas Advertising Worked In The 1960s

Unlike today where television dominates the festive advertising landscape, 1960s Christmas adverts relied almost entirely on magazines newspapers and radio!

This made magazine adverts genuinely special, beautifully illustrated carefully crafted and designed to be kept and treasured.

The Most Iconic 1960s Christmas Magazine Adverts

The biggest names in 1960s Christmas advertising were not British retailers but American consumer brands whose campaigns crossed the Atlantic and appeared in UK magazines and imported publications throughout the decade.

Coca Cola had already established their iconic red suited Santa Claus in the 1930s while Pepsi launched their own warmly illustrated family Christmas campaigns.

The most memorably their 1961 advert featuring a young boy with his parents and a gleaming new train set under the tree.

👉 Shop Coca Cola products here

When Television Christmas Adverts Were Born

By the mid 1960s television ownership in Britain had grown enormously, and advertisers were quick to recognise the extraordinary opportunity this presented at Christmas.

Kodak’s 1969 Christmas campaign for their very first instant camera was particularly memorable, showing Santa Claus whispering the secrets of the perfect Christmas gift into a lucky recipient’s ear.

👉 Shop Kodak’s latest products here

How 1960s Christmas Advertising Changed Everything

The legacy of 1960s Christmas advertising is impossible to overstate, because almost every convention we associate with modern festive campaigns was established or refined during this extraordinary decade.

The warm family scene the aspirational gift the magical winter setting, all of it traces directly back to the sixties.

👉 Curious about what else was on television in the sixties? Don’t miss our 1960s Christmas TV Specials for more wonderful nostalgic content!