Santa Claus gets a boyfriend in new Christmas commercial.Norway’s state-owned postal service Posten is marking 50 years since Norway decriminalized same-sex relationships with a Christmas ad

Reuters
@Reuters

OSLO, Nov 25 (Reuters) – Norway’s state-owned postal service Posten is marking 50 years since Norway decriminalised same-sex relationships with a heartwarming Christmas ad in which Santa Claus strikes up a romance with a man called Harry.

“When Harry met Santa”
“This year it’s all about love – highlighting the fact that 2022 marks the 50th anniversary of the decriminalization of homosexuality in Norway,” Posten said in a statement. “In addition to showing the flexibility of our services, we want to put it in a socially relevant setting,” it said.

With some 14,000 employees overall, government-owned Posten also has variety among its staff in terms of age, gender, religion, sexual orientation and ethnicity.

“Everyone should feel welcome, seen, heard, and included. This year’s Christmas ad embraces this,” it said.

Reactions to the ad were overwhelmingly positive, a spokesperson for the mail service said.

Among those who commented publicly was former U.S. ambassador to Denmark Rufus Gifford, who is himself gay.

FILE PHOTO: A still image shows a frame from a video commercial for the Norwegian postal service “When Harry Met Santa”, which features a gay Santa Claus. Tim Lorenzen/Handout via REUTERS

The “When Harry met Santa” ad was made by Norwegian creative agency POL and producers B-Reel Films. (Reporting by Terje Solsvik in Oslo and Ilze Filks in Stockholm; Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky)

(Today)The nearly  4 -minute long commercial When Harry met Santa” shows the moment Harry first meets Santa — when he is dropping off presents at Harry’s home.

The two share a special glance before Santa moves on to the next house on his busiest day of the year.

Their exchanges continue to happen over the years, with Harry making extra effort to look nice for his annual romantic meeting with Santa. In one emotional farewell, he lets Kriss Kringle know that he’ll miss him.

The following year, we see Harry writing a letter to Santa, letting him know that, “All I want for Christmas is you.”

A smitten Santa shows up early at his boyfriend’s house as Posten delivers the parcels to their front door.

“Well I arranged some help this year…so I can be with you,” Santa tells his boyfriend.

Don’t mind us, we’re just swooning over here.

A video of the commercial posted on YouTube with English subtitles had been viewed more than 225,000 times as of Wednesday afternoon.

Sources: Reuters, 25/11/2021, National Post, YouTube, Today

Last Updated on 25.11.2021 by iskova