Yule Log (TV program)
Encyclopedia
The Yule Log is a television program
which is broadcast traditionally on Christmas Eve
or Christmas
morning (except for the 1990s and the year 2000 when the program wasn't broadcast), originally by New York City
television station WPIX
but now by many other Tribune Company
-owned television stations, including WGN America, and by Antenna TV
starting in 2011. A radio simulcast
of the musical portion was broadcast by associated station WPIX-FM (now WEMP) until 1989.
The program, which has been two to four hours in duration, is a film loop of a yule log
burning in a fireplace, with a traditional soundtrack of classic Christmas music
playing in the background. It is broadcast without commercial interruption.
commercial a year earlier that showed Santa Claus
at a fireplace, he envisioned this television program as a televised Christmas gift to those residents of New York who lived in apartments and homes without fireplaces. This also provided time for employees of the television station to stay home with their families, instead of working for the usual morning news
program.
The original program was filmed at Gracie Mansion
, the official residence of the Mayor of New York City
, John Lindsay
, at the time. An estimated US $
4,000 of advertising (along with a roller derby
telecast that night) was canceled on Christmas Eve for the show's inaugural airing. Thrower, and WPIX-FM programming director Charlie Whittaker selected the music, based largely on the easy listening
format the radio station had at that time, with the likes of Percy Faith
(whose rendition of "Joy to the World
" is played at the beginning and the end of the telecast), Nat King Cole
, Arthur Fiedler
and the Boston "Pops" Popular Orchestra, Mantovani
, and the Ray Conniff Singers
to name a few. During the filming, the producers removed a protective fire grate so that the blaze could be seen better; a stray spark damaged a nearby antique rug valued at $4,000.
The program was both a critical and ratings success, and by popular demand, it was rebroadcast for 23 consecutive years, beginning in 1967. However, by 1969 it was already apparent that the original 16 mm film
was quickly deteriorating from wear and needed to be re-filmed. (In addition, the original loop was only seventeen seconds long, resulting in a visibly jerky and artificial appearance.) Station producer William Cooper, a future recipient of a Peabody Award
, again asked to film the loop at Gracie Mansion; however, the mayor's office refused permission. So in 1970, WPIX found a fireplace with similar andirons at a residence in California and filmed a burning log on 35 mm film
there on a hot August day. This version's loop is approximately six minutes and three seconds.
usually preceded the program, which was broadcast every Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, and sometimes both. The cost of broadcasting the program without commercial interruption prompted a new WPIX general manager, Michael Eigner, to cancel it in 1990 — the same year that director Whit Stillman
included a scene of a New Yorker viewing the Log in his movie Metropolitan
. Despite hundreds of protesting letters, the program was not broadcast. Beginning in 1997, WPIX offered various versions of The Yule Log on the Internet.
In March 2000, Yule Log fan Joseph Malzone of Totowa, New Jersey
created a web site named "Bring Back The Log" (now named TheYuleLog.com, and administered by Lawrence F. "Chip" Arcuri), and petitioned station management to broadcast The Yule Log again. In December 2001, WPIX VP/General Manager Betty Ellen Berlamino announced on WPLJ
radio that the special would return after eleven years of not being broadcast. Berlamino explained that people wanted "comfort food TV" as a result of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The digitally restored program was the most-watched television program in the metropolitan New York area for Christmas Day of that year and has been broadcast annually since.
Program Director Julie O'Neil found the original master film of the 1970 fireplace in WPIX's film archives in Fort Lee, New Jersey
. The master film was misfiled in a Honeymooners
film can marked with the episode title “A Dog’s Life,” which resulted in a 2006 40th anniversary special about the Log being named A Log’s Life. In 2009, a fourth hour featuring 22 new songs and seven new artists was added to the program.
, parent company of WPIX, announced that in addition to being broadcast in New York City, The Yule Log would be broadcast in additional U.S.
television markets on other Tribune-owned television stations, and would also be broadcast by high definition television that year as well. The program made its "national" debut in 2004 on Chicago's WGN-TV
and its sibling station, now known as WGN America. However, in 2008 the stations did their own version, with holiday themed old-time radio
programs in the background instead of music. This was abandoned after one year, and the original WPIX version was used in 2009. WGN America did not broadcast The Yule Log in 2010, citing the economic infeasibility of devoting several hours to commercial-free programming on a national channel; however, the program was broadcast locally by WGN-TV Chicago, and by the other Tribune-owned local stations. There are also plans to broadcast The Yule Log on Tribune's new digital subchannel network, Antenna TV
, beginning in 2011. In 2010, The Yule Log was broadcast on the Gospel Music Channel (GMC), for 24 hours starting at 8:00 P.M. Christmas Eve until 8:00 P.M. Christmas night. WPIX and KTLA had The Yule Log on Christmas Morning for 4 hours.
Other stations (and cable channels) have spawned imitations. Fellow Tribune station WDCW
(then known as WBDC) in Washington, DC has done their own version, filming a log burning at Colonial Williamsburg
. Beginning in 2003, Jason Patton, an executive at INHD (now known as MOJO HD) was inspired as a youth by WPIX's Yule Log, he produced his own version, which broadcasts every Christmas as well as via On Demand. Broadcasters as diverse as Oregon Public Broadcasting
, the MSG Network
(as well as its former competitor, the Empire Sports Network
) and the CHUM Television
group in Canada
have also borrowed the concept. WKBW-TV
in Buffalo (not owned by Tribune), as a cost-reducing measure, introduced the Yule Log as a replacement for its Christmas morning newscast in 2008; it did not return in 2009. KSTC-TV
, owned by Hubbard Broadcasting in Minneapolis, Minnesota
, also produces a local version of the Yule Log. A great many video fireplace productions with a similar format have also been marketed on VHS, DVD, and Blu-ray, some of which are entitled "Yule Log" The Yule Log program also helped influence the "Puppy Bowl
", an annual special broadcast by cable network Animal Planet
on the day of the Super Bowl
.
In 2005, Tribune began making a version of the Yule Log video recorded in AVI format available for download, advertising it as a "Portable Yule Log" for those traveling.
In December 2006, to commemorate the program's 40th anniversary, WPIX broadcast a one-hour special about its history. Titled A Log's Life, the documentary included commentary by Fred Thrower's son Mitch, Bill Cooper's widow Kay, and Malzone. The program was broadcast four times, including once on Christmas Day, directly after a completely restored three-hour version of the 1970 "Log". Researched and compiled by Malzone and Arcuri, a Christmas musicologist, this latest incarnation features a newly re-digitized play list of the original soundtrack, which includes a number of tunes of the 1970 version that are not currently available on compact disc, but only on LPs now out of print.
In 2008, the company Outback Steakhouse
used this holiday tradition by having the first 20 seconds of a 30-second advertisement feature a CGI version of the log, then focusing on some steaks. Also in 2008, animation director PES
released a free screensaver that reimagined the Yule Log in food, with pretzels for the log and candy corn for the flames.
Television program
A television program , also called television show, is a segment of content which is intended to be broadcast on television. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series...
which is broadcast traditionally on Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve refers to the evening or entire day preceding Christmas Day, a widely celebrated festival commemorating the birth of Jesus of Nazareth that takes place on December 25...
or Christmas
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
morning (except for the 1990s and the year 2000 when the program wasn't broadcast), originally by New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
television station WPIX
WPIX
WPIX, channel 11, is a television station in New York City built, signed on, and owned by the Tribune Company. WPIX also serves as the flagship station of The CW Television Network...
but now by many other Tribune Company
Tribune Company
The Tribune Company is a large American multimedia corporation based in Chicago, Illinois. It is the nation's second-largest newspaper publisher, with ten daily newspapers and commuter tabloids including Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times, Hartford Courant, Orlando Sentinel, South Florida...
-owned television stations, including WGN America, and by Antenna TV
Antenna TV
Antenna TV is an American digital broadcast television network, primarily featuring classic television series from the 1950s to the 1990s, along with some feature films. It is owned by Tribune Broadcasting, a division of the Chicago-based Tribune Company...
starting in 2011. A radio simulcast
Simulcast
Simulcast, shorthand for "simultaneous broadcast", refers to programs or events broadcast across more than one medium, or more than one service on the same medium, at the same time. For example, Absolute Radio is simulcast on both AM and on satellite radio, and the BBC's Prom concerts are often...
of the musical portion was broadcast by associated station WPIX-FM (now WEMP) until 1989.
The program, which has been two to four hours in duration, is a film loop of a yule log
Yule log
A Yule log is a large and extremely hard log which is burned in the hearth as a part of traditional Yule or Christmas celebrations in several European cultures...
burning in a fireplace, with a traditional soundtrack of classic Christmas music
Christmas music
Christmas music comprises a variety of genres of music normally performed or heard around the Christmas season, which tends to begin in the months leading up the actual holiday and end in the weeks shortly thereafter.-Early:...
playing in the background. It is broadcast without commercial interruption.
Origins
The Yule Log was created in 1966 by Fred M. Thrower, President and CEO of WPIX, Inc. Inspired by an animated Coca-ColaCoca-Cola
Coca-Cola is a carbonated soft drink sold in stores, restaurants, and vending machines in more than 200 countries. It is produced by The Coca-Cola Company of Atlanta, Georgia, and is often referred to simply as Coke...
commercial a year earlier that showed Santa Claus
Santa Claus
Santa Claus is a folklore figure in various cultures who distributes gifts to children, normally on Christmas Eve. Each name is a variation of Saint Nicholas, but refers to Santa Claus...
at a fireplace, he envisioned this television program as a televised Christmas gift to those residents of New York who lived in apartments and homes without fireplaces. This also provided time for employees of the television station to stay home with their families, instead of working for the usual morning news
News
News is the communication of selected information on current events which is presented by print, broadcast, Internet, or word of mouth to a third party or mass audience.- Etymology :...
program.
The original program was filmed at Gracie Mansion
Gracie Mansion
thumb|250px|Western sideGracie Mansion is the official residence of the mayor of the City of New York. Built in 1799, it is located in Carl Schurz Park, at East End Avenue and Eighty-eighth Street in Manhattan...
, the official residence of the Mayor of New York City
Mayor of New York City
The Mayor of the City of New York is head of the executive branch of New York City's government. The mayor's office administers all city services, public property, police and fire protection, most public agencies, and enforces all city and state laws within New York City.The budget overseen by the...
, John Lindsay
John Lindsay
John Vliet Lindsay was an American politician, lawyer and broadcaster who was a U.S. Congressman, Mayor of New York City, candidate for U.S...
, at the time. An estimated US $
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
4,000 of advertising (along with a roller derby
Roller derby
Roller derby is a contact sport played by two teams of five members roller skating in the same direction around a track. Game play consists of a series of short matchups in which both teams designate a scoring player who scores points by lapping members of the opposing team...
telecast that night) was canceled on Christmas Eve for the show's inaugural airing. Thrower, and WPIX-FM programming director Charlie Whittaker selected the music, based largely on the easy listening
Easy listening
Easy listening is a broad style of popular music and radio format that emerged in the 1950s, evolving out of big band music, and related to MOR music as played on many AM radio stations. It encompasses the exotica, beautiful music, light music, lounge music, ambient music, and space age pop genres...
format the radio station had at that time, with the likes of Percy Faith
Percy Faith
Percy Faith was a Canadian-born American bandleader, orchestrator, composer and conductor, known for his lush arrangements of pop and Christmas standards. He is often credited with creating the "easy listening" or "mood music" format which became staples of American popular music in the 1950s and...
(whose rendition of "Joy to the World
Joy to the World
"Joy to the World" is a Christian Christmas carol.The words are by English hymn writer Isaac Watts, based on Psalm 98 in the Bible. The song was first published in 1719 in Watts' collection; The Psalms of David: Imitated in the language of the New Testament, and applied to the Christian state and...
" is played at the beginning and the end of the telecast), Nat King Cole
Nat King Cole
Nathaniel Adams Coles , known professionally as Nat King Cole, was an American musician who first came to prominence as a leading jazz pianist. Although an accomplished pianist, he owes most of his popular musical fame to his soft baritone voice, which he used to perform in big band and jazz genres...
, Arthur Fiedler
Arthur Fiedler
Arthur Fiedler was a long-time conductor of the Boston Pops Orchestra, a symphony orchestra that specializes in popular and light classical music. With a combination of musicianship and showmanship, he made the Boston Pops one of the best-known orchestras in the country...
and the Boston "Pops" Popular Orchestra, Mantovani
Mantovani
Annunzio Paolo Mantovani known as Mantovani, was an Anglo-Italian conductor and light orchestra-styled entertainer with a cascading strings musical signature. The book British Hit Singles & Albums states that he was "Britain's most successful album act before The Beatles .....
, and the Ray Conniff Singers
Ray Conniff
Joseph Raymond Conniff was an American bandleader and arranger best known for his Ray Conniff Singers during the 1960s.-Biography:...
to name a few. During the filming, the producers removed a protective fire grate so that the blaze could be seen better; a stray spark damaged a nearby antique rug valued at $4,000.
The program was both a critical and ratings success, and by popular demand, it was rebroadcast for 23 consecutive years, beginning in 1967. However, by 1969 it was already apparent that the original 16 mm film
16 mm film
16 mm film refers to a popular, economical gauge of film used for motion pictures and non-theatrical film making. 16 mm refers to the width of the film...
was quickly deteriorating from wear and needed to be re-filmed. (In addition, the original loop was only seventeen seconds long, resulting in a visibly jerky and artificial appearance.) Station producer William Cooper, a future recipient of a Peabody Award
Peabody Award
The George Foster Peabody Awards recognize distinguished and meritorious public service by radio and television stations, networks, producing organizations and individuals. In 1939, the National Association of Broadcasters formed a committee to recognize outstanding achievement in radio broadcasting...
, again asked to film the loop at Gracie Mansion; however, the mayor's office refused permission. So in 1970, WPIX found a fireplace with similar andirons at a residence in California and filmed a burning log on 35 mm film
35 mm film
35 mm film is the film gauge most commonly used for chemical still photography and motion pictures. The name of the gauge refers to the width of the photographic film, which consists of strips 35 millimeters in width...
there on a hot August day. This version's loop is approximately six minutes and three seconds.
Canceling and revival
From 1974 until 1989, a special message by then WPIX-TV vice president and general manager Richard N. HughesRichard N. Hughes
Richard Norman Hughes was an American television executive and television station editorialist.-Early career:...
usually preceded the program, which was broadcast every Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, and sometimes both. The cost of broadcasting the program without commercial interruption prompted a new WPIX general manager, Michael Eigner, to cancel it in 1990 — the same year that director Whit Stillman
Whit Stillman
Whit Stillman is an American writer-director known for his sly depictions of the "urban haute bourgeoisie" Whit Stillman (born John Whitney Stillman on January 25, 1952) is an American writer-director known for his sly depictions of the "urban haute bourgeoisie" Whit Stillman (born John Whitney...
included a scene of a New Yorker viewing the Log in his movie Metropolitan
Metropolitan (film)
Metropolitan is the first film by director and screenwriter Whit Stillman. It received an Oscar nomination for Best Original Screenplay.-Synopsis:...
. Despite hundreds of protesting letters, the program was not broadcast. Beginning in 1997, WPIX offered various versions of The Yule Log on the Internet.
In March 2000, Yule Log fan Joseph Malzone of Totowa, New Jersey
Totowa, New Jersey
Totowa is a borough in Passaic County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2000 United States Census, the borough population was 9,892.Totowa was formed as a borough by an Act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 15, 1898, from portions of the now-defunct Manchester Township and Wayne...
created a web site named "Bring Back The Log" (now named TheYuleLog.com, and administered by Lawrence F. "Chip" Arcuri), and petitioned station management to broadcast The Yule Log again. In December 2001, WPIX VP/General Manager Betty Ellen Berlamino announced on WPLJ
WPLJ
WPLJ is a radio station in New York City owned by the broadcasting division of Cumulus Media. WPLJ shares studio facilities with sister station WABC inside 2 Penn Plaza in midtown Manhattan, and its transmitter is atop the Empire State Building. The station currently plays a Hot Adult...
radio that the special would return after eleven years of not being broadcast. Berlamino explained that people wanted "comfort food TV" as a result of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The digitally restored program was the most-watched television program in the metropolitan New York area for Christmas Day of that year and has been broadcast annually since.
Program Director Julie O'Neil found the original master film of the 1970 fireplace in WPIX's film archives in Fort Lee, New Jersey
Fort Lee, New Jersey
Fort Lee is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough population was 35,345. Located atop the Hudson Palisades, the borough is the western terminus of the George Washington Bridge...
. The master film was misfiled in a Honeymooners
The Honeymooners
The Honeymooners is an American situation comedy television show, based on a recurring 1951–'55 sketch of the same name. It originally aired on the DuMont network's Cavalcade of Stars and subsequently on the CBS network's The Jackie Gleason Show hosted by Jackie Gleason, and filmed before a live...
film can marked with the episode title “A Dog’s Life,” which resulted in a 2006 40th anniversary special about the Log being named A Log’s Life. In 2009, a fourth hour featuring 22 new songs and seven new artists was added to the program.
Legacy
In 2003, Tribune BroadcastingTribune Broadcasting
The Tribune Broadcasting Company is a group of radio and television stations located throughout the United States which are owned and operated by the Tribune Company, a media conglomerate based in Chicago, Illinois and named for the flagship Chicago Tribune newspaper.- History :Tribune Broadcasting...
, parent company of WPIX, announced that in addition to being broadcast in New York City, The Yule Log would be broadcast in additional U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
television markets on other Tribune-owned television stations, and would also be broadcast by high definition television that year as well. The program made its "national" debut in 2004 on Chicago's WGN-TV
WGN-TV
WGN-TV, virtual channel 9 , is the CW-affiliated television station in Chicago, Illinois built, signed on, and owned by the Tribune Company. WGN-TV's studios and offices are located at 2501 W...
and its sibling station, now known as WGN America. However, in 2008 the stations did their own version, with holiday themed old-time radio
Old-time radio
Old-Time Radio and the Golden Age of Radio refer to a period of radio programming in the United States lasting from the proliferation of radio broadcasting in the early 1920s until television's replacement of radio as the primary home entertainment medium in the 1950s...
programs in the background instead of music. This was abandoned after one year, and the original WPIX version was used in 2009. WGN America did not broadcast The Yule Log in 2010, citing the economic infeasibility of devoting several hours to commercial-free programming on a national channel; however, the program was broadcast locally by WGN-TV Chicago, and by the other Tribune-owned local stations. There are also plans to broadcast The Yule Log on Tribune's new digital subchannel network, Antenna TV
Antenna TV
Antenna TV is an American digital broadcast television network, primarily featuring classic television series from the 1950s to the 1990s, along with some feature films. It is owned by Tribune Broadcasting, a division of the Chicago-based Tribune Company...
, beginning in 2011. In 2010, The Yule Log was broadcast on the Gospel Music Channel (GMC), for 24 hours starting at 8:00 P.M. Christmas Eve until 8:00 P.M. Christmas night. WPIX and KTLA had The Yule Log on Christmas Morning for 4 hours.
Other stations (and cable channels) have spawned imitations. Fellow Tribune station WDCW
WDCW
WDCW, channel 50, is the CW-affiliated television station for Washington, D.C. It transmits from the Hughes Memorial Tower located in the Brightwood section of the city. Owned by the Tribune Company, the station has studios on Wisconsin Avenue Northwest in the Glover Park section of Washington...
(then known as WBDC) in Washington, DC has done their own version, filming a log burning at Colonial Williamsburg
Colonial Williamsburg
Colonial Williamsburg is the private foundation representing the historic district of the city of Williamsburg, Virginia, USA. The district includes buildings dating from 1699 to 1780 which made colonial Virginia's capital. The capital straddled the boundary of the original shires of Virginia —...
. Beginning in 2003, Jason Patton, an executive at INHD (now known as MOJO HD) was inspired as a youth by WPIX's Yule Log, he produced his own version, which broadcasts every Christmas as well as via On Demand. Broadcasters as diverse as Oregon Public Broadcasting
Oregon Public Broadcasting
Oregon Public Broadcasting is the primary television and radio public broadcasting network for most of Oregon as well as southern Washington. With its headquarters and television studios in Portland, OPB consists of five full-power television stations, dozens of VHF or UHF translators, and over...
, the MSG Network
MSG Network
The MSG Network, now shortened to simply MSG, is a regional cable television and radio network serving the Mid-Atlantic United States. It is focused on New York City sports teams...
(as well as its former competitor, the Empire Sports Network
Empire Sports Network
Empire Sports Network was a regional sports network on cable television which served upstate New York from Buffalo to Albany, parts of northern Pennsylvania and eastern Ohio...
) and the CHUM Television
CHUM Limited
CHUM Limited was a media company based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada from 1945 to 2007. Immediately prior to its acquisition, it held full or joint control of two Canadian television systems — Citytv and A-Channel — comprising 11 local stations, and one CBC Television affiliate, one...
group in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
have also borrowed the concept. WKBW-TV
WKBW-TV
WKBW-TV, channel 7, is the ABC affiliate for the Buffalo, New York television market, and is one of many local Buffalo TV stations seen over-the-air and on cable in Canada. Its transmitter is located at 8909 Center Street in Colden. The station is owned by the Granite Broadcasting Corporation, who...
in Buffalo (not owned by Tribune), as a cost-reducing measure, introduced the Yule Log as a replacement for its Christmas morning newscast in 2008; it did not return in 2009. KSTC-TV
KSTC-TV
KSTC-TV is an Independent television station for the Twin Cities that is licensed to Minneapolis. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 45 from a transmitter at the Telefarm installation in Shoreview. Owned by Hubbard Broadcasting, the station is sister to ABC affiliate...
, owned by Hubbard Broadcasting in Minneapolis, Minnesota
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Minneapolis , nicknamed "City of Lakes" and the "Mill City," is the county seat of Hennepin County, the largest city in the U.S. state of Minnesota, and the 48th largest in the United States...
, also produces a local version of the Yule Log. A great many video fireplace productions with a similar format have also been marketed on VHS, DVD, and Blu-ray, some of which are entitled "Yule Log" The Yule Log program also helped influence the "Puppy Bowl
Puppy Bowl
The Puppy Bowl is an annual television program on Animal Planet that mimics an American football bowl game similar to the Super Bowl, using puppies. Shown the same afternoon of the Super Bowl, the show consists of footage of a batch of puppies at play inside a model stadium, with commentary on...
", an annual special broadcast by cable network Animal Planet
Animal Planet
Animal Planet is an American cable tv specialty channel that launched on October 1, 1996. It is distributed by Discovery Communications. A high-definition simulcast of the channel launched on September 1, 2007.-History:...
on the day of the Super Bowl
Super Bowl
The Super Bowl is the championship game of the National Football League , the highest level of professional American football in the United States, culminating a season that begins in the late summer of the previous calendar year. The Super Bowl uses Roman numerals to identify each game, rather...
.
In 2005, Tribune began making a version of the Yule Log video recorded in AVI format available for download, advertising it as a "Portable Yule Log" for those traveling.
In December 2006, to commemorate the program's 40th anniversary, WPIX broadcast a one-hour special about its history. Titled A Log's Life, the documentary included commentary by Fred Thrower's son Mitch, Bill Cooper's widow Kay, and Malzone. The program was broadcast four times, including once on Christmas Day, directly after a completely restored three-hour version of the 1970 "Log". Researched and compiled by Malzone and Arcuri, a Christmas musicologist, this latest incarnation features a newly re-digitized play list of the original soundtrack, which includes a number of tunes of the 1970 version that are not currently available on compact disc, but only on LPs now out of print.
In 2008, the company Outback Steakhouse
Outback Steakhouse
Outback Steakhouse is an American casual dining restaurant chain based in Tampa, Florida with over 1200 locations in 22 countries throughout North and South America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. It was founded in February 1988 in Tampa by Bob Basham, Chris T...
used this holiday tradition by having the first 20 seconds of a 30-second advertisement feature a CGI version of the log, then focusing on some steaks. Also in 2008, animation director PES
PES (director)
PES is a director and animator of numerous short films and commercials.Receiving a B.A. in English Literature at the University of Virginia, PES migrated to film as a storytelling medium. His use of everyday objects and stop-motion animation to create original material is instantly recognizable...
released a free screensaver that reimagined the Yule Log in food, with pretzels for the log and candy corn for the flames.