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Growing up, the Santa Claus I always saw was the jolly old white man with a white beard and red suit. In the mall, in movies and on Christmas cards, this fictional character of Santa Claus so many celebrated was always depicted as white. As a child, I could never have imagined that Santa Claus could actually look like me.
With the Diversity Tipping Point of 2020, the pressure for brands to be more inclusive continues to mount and Christmas is no exception. It’s about time brands recognized that representation matters, particularly when it comes to Santa Claus. This holiday season, three brands have focused on including Black Santa Claus.
Here’s what Old Navy, Target and Disney are doing to create a more inclusive holiday experience for all.
Target
Over the last several years, Target has been on its inclusion journey, publicly sharing its commitments. The brand focuses on three key pillars: representation, inclusive experience and business. They are focused on creating inclusive experiences for not just all team members, but Target guests as well.
When it comes to reaching guests, Target recognizes the growing $1.3 Trillion spending power of the Black community. Creating a relevant assortment that reaches Black consumers and the growing multicultural consumer base is of utmost importance.
When it comes to their 2021 Christmas assortment, Target has embraced and included Black Santa. He can be pretty much anywhere in your house you want, including Santa hand towels, pillows and in plush form for kids to cuddle with at bedtime. Black Mrs. Claus is also included along with Black Santa Claus as tree ornaments. You can pack gifts in wrapping paper featuring Black Santa, and finally wear a graphic t-shirt featuring Black Santa that says “Believe.”
Old Navy
Old Navy has also been on its journey to uphold its Diversity, Equity and Inclusion commitments. They recognize the importance of great innovation, which doesn’t happen without diversity of representation around the table. Specifically, Old Navy plans to double the representation of Black and Latinx employees in functions that make and market Old Navy products to ensure they are creating inclusive products.
Old Navy also recognized that they could go beyond creating inclusive products, like introducing skin-tone Santa prints, and help create inclusive Christmas experiences for all. This holiday season, they are asking all of us to challenge holiday stereotypes, including our image of Santa Claus.
“Diversity is a current challenge in the Santa industry,” says Old Navy. “Less than 5% of all professional Santas in the U.S. identify as people of color, while almost half of children under the age of 15 in the U.S. identify as non-white.”
Old Navy is offering the first of its kind virtual training Santa BOOTcamp to learn the fundamentals of becoming Santa. This includes how to respond to kids’ frequently asked Santa questions and key phrases in both sign language and Spanish. Also tips on how to capture the perfect picture. We need more Santas that look like us and represent our communities.
Disney
Finally, Disney has made some important progress on its journey to be a more inclusive brand. In the business of storytelling, Disney is recognizing the importance of including storytellers that represent the vast experiences of people who will hear them. Most notably, they included disclaimers about racist stereotypes to some old movies, adopted gender inclusive costumes for theme park staff and are helping to lead an initiative to change how movies portray Muslims.
So without an announcement, or much fanfare, Black Santa Clauses started appearing at the Disneyland Resort and Walt Disney World Resort, meeting and greeting guests. Disney fans flooded social media channels with their reactions of feeling seen and included for the first time this holiday season. “I’m pretty sure I just caught the very first Black Santa to ever be at Walt Disney World and I am seriously crying happy tears,” gushed one fan on Twitter.
Representation matters. It’s never too late to make progress on your journey to be a more inclusive brand.
