Steve Carell plays a bummed-out Santa Claus tired of 2020 in a new Xfinity commercial released on Thanksgiving Day.
In the clip, Carell’s Santa struggles with the same issues we’ve all had amid the coronavirus pandemic, and he feels hopeless about doing meaningful work at the close of this very crazy year. His elves are all working from home, exercising and watching TV in solitude, while they wait for their boss to video call, a challenging adjustment to the technology that he hasn’t quite grasped. At one point, Mrs. Claus walks through the background of his shot wearing a bath towel, and Santa scrambles to block her from view.
The jolly old man might live at the North Pole and travel by flying reindeer, but he’s never been more relatable.
In the end of the three-minute commercial, Santa’s ennui is replaced by the Christmas spirit, of course, with some help from his elves. He video chats them from his sleigh to offer up some gratitude.
On Twitter, viewers had some gratitude of their own to offer Carell for the spot.
“I don’t know who this is directed towards but please start making a ‘Steve Carell as Santa’ movie ASAP,” tweeted one watcher.
Huffington Post’s Philip Lewis quickly watched the clip as it circulated online, noting, “I’m a simple guy. I see Steve Carell, I watch.”
If you’d like to watch, too, check it out above.
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