• by Danielle Oster , 3 hours ago

A new holiday campaign recasts Santa Claus as something of a villain.

Santa is a mob boss delivering the message “Don’t Gift Patreon” in an implicitly threatening manner, because he sees the creator platform as competition The “Don’t Gift Patreon” hero ad was directed by comedian and filmmaker Daniel Thrasher, and stars comedian and actor Stavros “Stavvy” Halkias (“Bugonia,” “Tires”) as a menacing Santa reacting to people no longer gifting “stuff” for the holidays. The campaign promotes giving Patreon memberships to friends and family that support the creators behind podcasts, art, and other content, while providing bonus features and exclusive content to members.

“Don’t Gift Patreon” debuted on Patreon’s YouTube page, with the central ad’s director, and star, also acting as influencer partners — featuring the content across Halkias’ Instagram page, and Thrasher’s Instagram and YouTube pages. “Santa Hates Patreon” also includes a dedicated campaign microsite designed to evoke the aesthetics of the early Internet.

Patreon appears to be hinging its appeal on providing a feel-good alternative for a holiday gift to audiences burned out on holiday shopping expectations.

“The holidays have become a race to make more, buy more, produce more,” Patreon Senior Vice President of Marketing Mike McGarry said in a statement. “We’d rather put the spotlight on creators. They make the kind of ideas AI can’t touch—original, weird, deeply human—and they deserve to earn from that magic,” he added. “That’s the sort of creativity we hope people choose to give this season.”

McGarry also alluded to the campaign positioning the brand as championing human creativity at a time when “brands brag about AI-made ads” and “even Santa has become generated..”