Target's New "Weirdly Hot" Santa Claus Is Getting Folks Into the Christmas Spirit

In a season full of comfortably repetitive holiday commercials, featuring twinkling lights, classing jingles, and happy families gathering around the dinner table, one thing we didn't expect to see this season was a young, thirst-worthy Santa Claus courtesy of Target.

This new iteration of Santa, who goes by Kris. K in the commercials and seems to be a Target employee, has folks all over the internet in shambles — and even Target themselves has described him as "weirdly hot" in one of their ads.

He drives around in a crimson Ford Bronco with a vanity plate that says "SLEIGH" while wearing his tight-fitting khakis and red sweater, a getup reminiscent of the classic Target uniform, and popping in on unsuspecting holiday shoppers.

And now that we've been introduced to sexy Santa, the people want to know more. Particularly, who plays him in the commercials? Well, it turns out he's no stranger to Christmas flicks.

As it turns out, the face behind Target's 2024 "Hot Santa" campaign is none other than actor Brent Bailey, who has previously starred in The Idea of You and The Lincoln Lawyer. And if you're wondering why he fits the role of Santa Claus so well, Brent actually acted in and wrote his own Christmas film in 2022 called The Holiday Dating Guide.

In it, he stars alongside Maria Menounos as Michael Ryan in a Hallmark-esque plot that features a career-driven writer who ends up unexpectedly falling for a small-town man while writing a dating guide during Christmas time.

While he doesn't play Santa in this movie, Brent's experience with holiday cheer (and being a hottie) certainly prepared him well for the role of Target's Kris K.

On Instagram, Brent has posted a few times about his new gig, calling it a "magical campaign" and urging his followers to share the commercials.

And clearly it has worked, as Target's 2024 holiday commercials featuring Hot Santa have done extremely well, both online and on the small screen. On TikTok alone, the ads have garnered hundreds of thousands of views and likes, with folks expressing their obsession with the new campaign (and Santa himself).

"Santa Zaddy, [you] can come down my chimney anytime! I don’t have one, but I’ll build one," one TikTok user wrote. Another said, "OK, I get it now! This is why all our moms had a thing for Santa."

Another TikTok user named Kim has called Target Santa a "Chistmas miracle for liberal women who have been looking for something to get [them] through the holidays," though others in the comments have disagreed.

"Target Santa voted for Trump," one response said. Another person in her comments wrote, "Let’s not make this political, girls … it’s a miracle for all women!"

However, a select few viewers of the commercial have been less than impressed, slamming Target for "sexualizing" the holiday icon.

"Taking the joy out of it for most people? Turning it into something sexual instead of traditional? Sounds like a liberal," one user said in response to Kim's TikTok.