Ein Lächeln ist Gold, das du verschenkst
Nicht nur der Weihnachtsmann wurde als Marketinggag geboren*, sondern auch der Smiley:
Die englischsprachige Wikipedia weiß zu berichten:
The smiley face, a yellow button with a smile and two dots representing eyes and a half circle representing a mouth, was invented by Harvey Ball in 1963 for a Worcester, Massachusetts based insurance firm State Mutual Life Assurance. Though there was an attempt to trademark the image, it fell into the public domain before that could be accomplished.
Wer hätte das gedacht?
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* Haha, stimmt ja gar nicht:
This legend is not true. Although some versions of the Santa Claus figure still had him attired in various colors of outfits past the beginning of the 20th century, the jolly, ruddy, sack-carrying Santa with a red suit and flowing white whiskers had become the standard image of Santa Claus by the 1920s, several years before Sundlom drew his first Santa illustration for Coca-Cola.

