For Nearly 50 Years, This Maine Christmas Commercial Has Been Making People Say “Aww”

If you were lucky enough to grow up in Maine, there is a really good chance that one of the signs that Santa would soon be visiting your house was the broadcasting of the Bangor Savings Bank kitten commercial.

It is sometimes hard to wrap your head around the fact that the commercial is as old as it is.  The commercial, which features a pair of kittens named Willie & Waylon (someone was a classic country fan) playing around a Christmas tree was first seen in 1980.

Yes, the commercial turns 45 in 2025!

In case you have never had the chance to see it:

The concept for the commercial came from an ad man named Jack Harvey and it reportedly took four times longer than normal to film the commercial because the kittens kept falling asleep.

Since it premiered, the commercial has made millions of Mainers say "aww", it has been a sign that Christmas was on the way, and it has been parodied at least a few times.

Here's one of those parodies:

Even more shocking than the age of the commercial is the fact that it has not been used since 2006.  Honestly, it is so engrained in our lives that it seems like it was just yesterday that I saw it on TV!