Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays

Stephen Thomas Erlewine reviewed the song in the context of Home for Christmas, and gave the following review:

It's always a sign that a group is hot if they release a holiday album mere months after their debut. That's the case with *NSYNC. Their debut was released in America in late March, and in early December, Home for Christmas hit the shelves. Much of the album is devoted to newer material, such as the anthemic "Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays", and only a handful of songs qualifying as standards: "The Christmas Song," "The First Noel," and "O Holy Night." All of it is given the familiar *NSYNC sheen, alternating between slickly produced adult contemporary ballads and lite dance-pop.[1]

The video was directed by Lionel C. Martin and filmed in a day.[2] All five members of NSYNC had creative input for the direction of the video, as they wanted it to "be pop, fun, and energetic."[2] This also included their request to include Gary Coleman as an elf in the video, which Martin described as "a little tricky" to secure on board.[2] The classic sitcom Diff'rent Strokes is referenced when NSYNC ask "Whatchu talkin' about, Gary?", based on Coleman's catchphrase; "Whatchu talkin' about, Willis?". Coleman's agent didn't approve of him saying the line, as it was owned by NBC.[2] The video debuted on TRL on December 14, 1998 and became the band’s third video to reach number one on the countdown at the time.[3]

1. "Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays" – 4:12
2. "All I Want Is You (This Christmas)" – 3:16

In 2019, David Archuleta covered “Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays” for the deluxe version of his Christmas album Winter in the Air. The accompanying music video features NSYNC members Chris Kirkpatrick and Lance Bass in cameos.[9][10]