They used Antony's art in the 1964 and 1965 GE TV Guide ads

 

Regarding Tony's art in the ad, you will notice that Sam doesn't have a mustache or beard, as when Tony originally did the designs, Burl wasn't cast yet as Sam and Larry D. Mann performed the dialogue and songs.   Many people ask about Hermey's normal ears and long, blond curl....this was to differentiate him from all the other elves, as he was a misfit and unique.  Many people ask me about the bulb shaped noses of the regular elves.   Yes, this was to reflect a GE Light bulb shape.  Tony designed three Rankin/Bass Christmas carolers in Animagic for a GE Commercial that Rankin/Bass did a few years earlier (Photograph can be seen in my book The Making of the Rankin/Bass Holiday Classic:  Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer available at www.miserbros.com 
) and you can clearly see they all have light bulb shape noses.  He continued this look for the 1964 productions of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.  Romeo Muller came up with the concept of all the additional characters and my late friend Antony Peters designed them.