POSTEN, Norway’s postal service, released a heartwarming Christmas commercial that captures a blossoming love story between Santa Claus and his love interest, Harry, to mark the Christmas season and the nation’s 50th anniversary of the decriminalisation of same-sex relationships.
The commercial, titled 'When Harry met Santa', is nearly four minutes long and shows the moment Harry first meets Santa as he is dropping off presents at Harry’s home. It continues through the years, with Harry’s anticipation of seeing his Christmas crush and their brief exchanges every Christmas eve.
The bittersweet seasonal meetings are short-lived but highly anticipatory – a moment every 365 days. Anyone familiar with long-distance relationships, not just in distance but in time, will relate to the nuances of Harry’s feelings, depicted poignantly by his sadness, frustration and almost child-like gleeful anticipation of Santa’s arrival.
This is the adult version of the longing for Christmas and all the miracles associated with the season. The slow burn of a romance like this will appeal to the die-hard romantics amongst us. But if you think a love story such as this would be futile in the real world, well, that is where Posten comes in.
Santa finally relinquishes the job of his annual global gift delivery to Posten, so he can spend a proper Christmas with Harry – and one can hopefully assume a more conventional relationship arrangement.
The video of the commercial posted on YouTube with English subtitles had been viewed more than 393,477 times as of Wednesday.
While hopeful and heartwarming, the video did garner some criticism from those who feel that Santa’s relationship with Mrs Claus is sacrosanct.
Norway giving Santa a boyfriend is the most ridiculous thing I’ve heard in a while ??♂️
— Craig Sheppard (@sheppy1389) November 24, 2021
That said, some recognised the fact that Santa, being a fictional character, could have any love life he wants.
People kicking off ? about the Norwegian advert of Santa Claus having a boyfriend. No issue from me if Santa is gay, good for him! What I do have an issue with is a 1,750 year old man dating a guy in his late 50s, bit dodgy that ?. P.s. it's a fictional character, chill peeps! pic.twitter.com/lEqZZr41do
— Dr Tony Cliffe (@TonyCliffe210) November 24, 2021
No matter your views on the matter, it is just lovely to see that when two people love one another, seemingly insurmountable logistics can be overcome. – The Vibes, November 25, 2021
