How Old Is The Hershey's Kisses Christmas Bell Commercial?

Even if you're just a casual television viewer, chances are you've gotten an ad or two stuck in your head over the years. Many of the famous TV commercials that come to mind are ads for food or drink, from fast food giant Wendy's 1984 masterpiece "Where's the Beef?" to Folgers Coffee's "The best part of waking up..." jingle, which People notes debuted that same year.

We don't know about you, but we happen to remember a lot of food industry commercials from the holiday seasons of our youths — probably because we were home over winter break and had a lot of time to veg in front of the TV. Do you recall the iconic Budweiser Christmas commercial that first aired in 1987, where proud Clydesdale horses marched through the snow (via Mascola)? How about the Hershey's Kiss commercial featuring an "orchestra" of chocolate drops ringing out the classic carol "We Wish You A Merry Christmas" (via Delish)? 

We remember it clear as day — in no small measure because the chocolate giant continues to run the ad each holiday season. So when did the iconic ad first air?

It's the holiday season, and if you've watched any TV at all over the past few weeks, you've likely seen the classic Hershey's Kiss commercial — one in which an assemblage of chocolate drops ring out a Christmas tune — more than a few times. We know that we remember this now-iconic ad from childhood, and, as Delish reports, it made its small-screen debut back in 1989, and has continued to air every winter since then.

The commercial is the result of a collaboration between former Hershey's brands manager John Dunn and the San Francisco-based advertising firm Ogilvy & Mather and production company Colossal Pictures, and focuses on the feeling of "whimsy." In the ad, 10 holiday-wrapped Hershey's Kisses form an "orchestra" of bells, following the front "conductor" Kiss wrapped in traditional silver foil as it "conducts" the Christmas carol using the ribbon at the top of the Kiss. At the end of the 16-second spot, one red-wrapped "bell" goes rogue, ringing a bit frantically, until the "conductor" calms it down. It's a cute, fun ad that doesn't seem to have aged a day since the '80s — we wouldn't mind seeing it a dozen more times before the new year arrives.