Fans of The Office may have loved Steve Carell playing Santa in a holiday commercial released on Thanksgiving Day, but there’s more to the story of the new Christmas ad.
The commercial shows a bossy but charming Carell telling his elves to figure out Christmas because the regular ol’ gifts aren’t going to cut it this year. After many failed attempts, one elf has an epiphany: What people need is the feeling of togetherness!
After many Zoom calls with a critical Santa who hates the idea, one with Mrs. Claus caught coming out of the shower in a red towel, the elves actually crack it. They’ve wrapped up the best and worst parts of being together when we’re forced apart during the holidays (presumably because of the deadly coronavirus pandemic that isn’t mentioned by name). “That works,” says a happy Santa after opening a gift that throws a snowball in his face.
Too bad the internet and cable provider behind the commercial is raising prices on the one thing that has actually been bringing people together as COVID-19 cases soar.
Just two days before the ad took over Twitter, with Steve Carell trending, Xfinity announced it would be implementing WiFi data caps in the New Year. If you use more than 1.2 TB of data, Xfinity will automatically add 50 GB blocks of data at $10 each to your bill. Customers will be capped at $100 a month, Xfinity says, adding that 95 percent of its customers don’t use that much data. According to USA Today, around 1.4 million customers make up those that do.
Xfinity has been trying to clean up its reputation for years after rebranding from the loathed Comcast. Compared to other internet service providers it’s inching up in the customer satisfaction rankings. The ad seems to be another attempt at spiffing up Xfinity’s image. Maybe Zooming elves and a funny Santa who forgets to turn himself off mute will distract you from the price bump and all those “comcast sucks” Facebook groups, tweets, and Reddit threads.