Steve Carell goes pantsless as Santa in this viral new ad

While we didn’t know that "Steve Carell as Santa" was even on our holiday wishlist, a new ad that casts him as the jolly man in red has certainly earned it a place. The promo, which imagines what the lead-up to Christmas might look like in a locked-down, primarily virtual world, sees Santa communicating with his employees via an onscreen video program — and includes all the mishaps we’ve become familiar with during a year of working from home.Directed by I, Tonya filmmaker Graig Gillespie (who was recently tapped to helm a live-action movie in which Emma Stone will play Cruella de Vil), the ad has the runtime of a short film and follows Mr. Claus (and Mrs. Claus played by Carell's real-life wife Nancy Carell) as he sets his team of elves to the task of coming up with a concept for Christmas gifting that outdoes any holiday season that’s come before. It’s been a tough year, and even those on Santa’s naughty list deserve a morale boost this December. The ad touts ComCast’s Xfinity branch, a cable phone and wireless service provider in the U.S., and the message it sends is about the importance of being connected to the people you love — even if we end up having to do that online for the 2020 season. In a statement, Carell commented that “The holidays are really about moments of togetherness with the people you love, and serve as a reminder for what’s most important, especially given the hardships of this past year. I hope that this sweet little story will bring a bit of cheer.”Focused on the task at hand, Santa Steve’s elves come up with a concept for boxing up the best holiday moments and sending them out across the world for everyone to enjoy and reminisce over. It is, as Carell says, super sweet… though it’s the WFH bloopers (see: pantsless Santa on a Zoom call) that we love best.[video_embed id='2076479']BEFORE YOU GO: Baby has an adorable reaction to family's new puppy [/video_embed]