Santa Claus could be wearing a purple coat or a yellow one - if it weren't for Coca-Cola.
Not until Coca-Cola started using Santa in its advertising campaign in 1930 was the jolly old fat man consistently depicted in red, the cola bottler's trademark color.And like Coke, Santa has become one of America's hottest exports, embraced in non-Christian countries such as Turkey and China.
Yet, the Santa exported from the United States is a far cry from the original St. Nick, a generous fourth-century bishop, and has very little to do with the religious origin of Christmas. Santa's a representation of American pop culture.
Americans have turned St. Nick into the national hero of materialism, according to Russell Belk, Utah's resident expert on Santa. Twenty years ago, as a professor in the University of Utah marketing department, Belk started studying Santa.
Santa, who is as much the creation of advertising as tradition, fell nicely into Belk's research of consumer consumption. The bookshelves in Belk's office are lined with Coke cans depicting St. Nick, and above the professor's door hang advertisements - one with Santa drinking a Coke and another of a Lucky Strike ad with Santa puffing a cigarette.
Belk has written several articles about the man in red, such as "A Child's Christmas in America: Santa Claus as Deity, Consumption as Religion."
The professor says that while Santa is symbolic of generosity, he also represents American greed. This is understandable, explains Belk, considering that America was founded for economic as well as religious freedom.
Clement Moore created the modern persona of Santa Claus in his 1822 poem "A Visit from St. Nicholas," known as "Twas the Night Before Christmas." More than five decades later, Thomas Nast showed Americans the modern Claus in his drawings of Santa Claus published in Harper's Weekly.
In his black-and-white drawing, Nast depicted Santa as a fat, bearded, white man carrying toys and smoking a pipe. Belk points out how Nast's depiction drops St. Nicholas' religious trappings - miter, staff and bishop's robes.
Over the years, this American Santa has been fleshed out by advertising campaigns, movies, books and songs like "Rudolph the Red-Nose Reindeer."
In some ways, the American Santa Claus is a Christ figure, according to Belk. Santa performs miracles, such as flying around the world in one night on Christmas Eve. Santa's omniscient and has the power to punish evil and reward good.
Santa also favors little children and teaches giving to the poor. However, while Christ promised heavenly gifts, Santa rewards children with material ones. Belk notes that Santa's gifts are generally toys, never anything practical like clothing.
"I'm concerned with the materialism," Belk said. Children carry into adulthood the belief that if they've been good, they deserve gifts. "One of the things that takes place at Christmastime is that people buy self gifts."
For these reasons, religions have battled with the image of Santa for years. Once in the 1940s, says Belk, some French priests burned Santa in effigy in front of crying children. Since then, most organized religions have reluctantly accepted the holiday symbol.
Even Belk doesn't believe in the throwing out Santa. He says people just need to counterbalance the negative aspects of Santa, the greedy side, by emphasizing the importance of giving.
Belk's daughter, now 25, was reared believing in Santa. And if Belk has grandchildren, he'd still take them to the mall to visit Santa Claus.
"There's something special about fantasy and magic that we need in our lives," he said.