Is it really Christmas until you see the Coca-Cola truck rolling through town? I don’t think so anyway. You’ve gotta wait until you see that bad boy before you can really get in the spirit.
The iconic jingle of ‘Holidays are coming…’ matched with the glowing red lorry making its way through a snowy Christmas scene is as much part of the festive season as mince pies and avoiding the family get together.
For some lucky people tough, they’ll be able to see the infamous truck roll through their own town this Christmas.
The Coca-Cola Christmas truck will be making its way up and down the UK through November and December, spreading the festive cheer and reminding us all what the holiday is really all about – well placed advertising and thinly veiled subliminal messaging.
The truck will be appearing in the following places, on the following dates:
Glasgow, Silverburn Centre – November 9 and 10
Exeter, Princesshay – November 10 and 11
Rutherglen, Tesco Extra – November 11
Taunton, ASDA – November 13
Newcastle Upon Tyne, Tesco – November 14
Morpeth, Sanderson Arcade – November 15 and 16
Cardiff, Queen Street City Centre – November 17 and 18
Sheffield, Fox Valley – November 17 and 18
Swansea, Tesco – November 21
Leeds, Asda Pudsey – November 21
Gainsborough, Marshalls Yard – November 24 and 25
Bristol, The Mall at Cribbs Causeway – November 24 and 25
Manchester, ASDA Eastlands – November 28
Doncaster, Lakeside Village Shopping Outlet – December 1 and 2
Bournemouth, Pier Approach – December 1 and 2
Peterborough, Serpentine Green – December 4 and 5
Nottingham, Victoria Retail Park – December 6 and 7
London, Jingle Bell Ball – December 8 and 9
Queensferry, ASDA – December 11
Watford, ASDA – December 11
Borehamwood, Tesco – December 12
Sutton Coldfield, Tesco – December 13
Birmingham, East Side Green – December 15 and 16
Croydon, Valley Retail & Leisure Park – December 15 and 16
Alec Mellor, Marketing Manager for Coca-Cola Great Britain said:
Christmas is all about sharing festive goodwill with friends and loved ones – and we can’t wait to start spreading holiday cheer across the UK with the return of our iconic red truck.
We’re excited to announce a brand-new route for 2018, which brings a sprinkling of festive magic to our fans, alongside an important message encouraging more people to recycle on the go.
The truck has been touring every Christmas period for the past eight years, travelling more than 730,000 miles – the equivalent of 29 times around the world. Though that’s nothing on Santa, it’s pretty impressive.
The legendary red lorry (say that five times, fast) features a spectacular 8,772 fairy lights and, of course, plays the catchy jingle, as the Mirror reports.
This year, the Coca-Cola truck will not only be spreading festive fun, but will also encourage customers to recycle and reuse their bottles and cans.
Coca-Cola recently launched their World Without Waste initiative, with aims to collect and recycle a bottle or can for each one sold by the year 2030, and this year, the holiday truck is spreading awareness of the campaign.
The famous Coca-Cola Christmas advert will, naturally, be returning to our screens, as it has done regularly for the last 23 years, further fuelling the rumour the drinks brand changed Santa’s suit from green to red to match their marketing scheme…
Holidays are coming!
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Charlie Cocksedge is a journalist and sub-editor at UNILAD. He graduated from the University of Manchester with an MA in Creative Writing, where he learnt how to write in the third person, before getting his NCTJ. His work has also appeared in such places as The Guardian, PN Review and the bin.