thedrifter
12-23-02, 12:40 PM
Lifestyle - Reuters
His Image Sullied, Santa Fights Back
Sun Dec 22,12:27 PM ET
By Howard Goller
LONDON (Reuters) - Santa Claus has been getting some bad press this year from Austria to Australia, accused by critics at Christmas time of being a fraud, an interloper and even politically incorrect.
His image sullied, the bearded and overweight old chap has found himself on the defensive, along with allies young and old, against a barrage of publicity that would challenge the skills of even the best spin doctor.
Some of his most outspoken detractors say they aim to restore Jesus as the central figure of Christmas even though they admit he is a "harder sell" than the legend in red.
"Santa is easier to market than the Christ child, and he is mainly used to spur people on to buy more gifts," insisted Stefan Boscheri, spokesman for the Austrian Pro-Christ Child Society, which has passed out 20,000 anti-Santa stickers.
"We want to raise awareness that Christmas is a holiday of love and not of consumer frenzy," he said. Similar sticker campaigns featuring a diagonal line across Santa's image have spread to Germany and Switzerland.
In Australia, some kindergartens and shopping centers have banned Santa, deeming the festive philanthropist politically incorrect for religious reasons, potentially offensive to Muslims, some Christians, and other minorities.
In Britain, a vicar reduced children to tears when, citing scientific research on the Internet, he joked there was no way Santa could deliver gifts across the world in a single night without burning to a crisp along with his reindeer.
Reverend Lee Rayfield later confessed to having exercised poor judgment by suggesting at a church service near London that Santa was fiction.
SANTA STRIKES BACK
Now it seems Santa's defenders are striking back.
The BBC, always proud of its news sources, published on its Web site what it called an unprecedented public statement in which Santa said the vicar should have known better than to put his faith in Internet gossip.
"Obviously if I had known a vicar was going to kill me off with a notepad and a slide rule, rather than having blind trust in my existence, I would have put my face around a bit more," the statement read.
Ray Kennedy, head of Santa's operations at Britain's Royal Mail, said belief in Santa hadn't waned in the eight years since he had taken over. The Royal Mail expected to handle 750,000 letters to Santa this year, up from 700,000 then.
"It's good for business but it is very good for children because it's the first letter the children will ever write and they'll get a response," Kennedy told Reuters. He said children appeared to be as motivated by goodwill as commercialism.
One girl's letter said: "I was only trying to wash my goldfish. I didn't mean to flush them down the toilet. Please can I have two more?" A little boy sent Santa a watch he received a year ago and asked if Santa would fix it.
Santa could not be reached for comment.
"He's too busy writing the letters at the moment and once he's finished with the letters, then he has to get the presents ready. He has a lot of work to do before Christmas Eve night," Kennedy said.
E-MAIL LETTERS UP
At the Atlanta-based Web site Claus.com, corporate communications director Liz Kronenberger said more than 100,000 people had written e-mail letters to Santa -- an increase of 50 percent over last year.
"The hundreds of e-mails we receive each day indicate that kids still believe in the magic of Santa," she told Reuters.
In one e-mail, a woman suffering from a disease affecting her nerves and memory wrote to thank Kronenberger for the chance to enjoy the smiles of her four grandchildren on what could be her last Christmas.
Santa can be good for politics. In both Australia and Canada, the prime ministers sang his praises.
"I believed in Santa when I was a kid and Santa is for children therefore I believe in Santa," Australia's John Howard told reporters. Canada's Jean Chretien even ascribed the country's healthy economy to Santa's efforts.
Also in Canada, Santa rallied the support of an even higher authority. The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), responsible for protecting U.S. and Canadian airspace, promises to track Santa's sleigh around the globe.
"Canadian fighter pilots will take the first pictures of his sleigh when he arrives over the continent," the Canadian Air Force said. The pictures may be seen on a six-language Web site, www.noradsanta.org.
History books suggest Santa has long had an image problem.
Santa -- who entered the picture as Nicholas, a kind-hearted fourth-century bishop in Turkey -- faced doubts even in 1897 when an eight-year-old girl, Virginia O'Hanlon, wrote to the New York Sun to question his existence.
"Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus," the newspaper replied on its editorial page. "He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy."
(Additional reporting by Ellie Tzortzi in Vienna, Belinda Goldsmith in Canberra, Erik Kirschbaum in Berlin and Reuters bureaux in New York and Toronto)
Sempers,
Roger
His Image Sullied, Santa Fights Back
Sun Dec 22,12:27 PM ET
By Howard Goller
LONDON (Reuters) - Santa Claus has been getting some bad press this year from Austria to Australia, accused by critics at Christmas time of being a fraud, an interloper and even politically incorrect.
His image sullied, the bearded and overweight old chap has found himself on the defensive, along with allies young and old, against a barrage of publicity that would challenge the skills of even the best spin doctor.
Some of his most outspoken detractors say they aim to restore Jesus as the central figure of Christmas even though they admit he is a "harder sell" than the legend in red.
"Santa is easier to market than the Christ child, and he is mainly used to spur people on to buy more gifts," insisted Stefan Boscheri, spokesman for the Austrian Pro-Christ Child Society, which has passed out 20,000 anti-Santa stickers.
"We want to raise awareness that Christmas is a holiday of love and not of consumer frenzy," he said. Similar sticker campaigns featuring a diagonal line across Santa's image have spread to Germany and Switzerland.
In Australia, some kindergartens and shopping centers have banned Santa, deeming the festive philanthropist politically incorrect for religious reasons, potentially offensive to Muslims, some Christians, and other minorities.
In Britain, a vicar reduced children to tears when, citing scientific research on the Internet, he joked there was no way Santa could deliver gifts across the world in a single night without burning to a crisp along with his reindeer.
Reverend Lee Rayfield later confessed to having exercised poor judgment by suggesting at a church service near London that Santa was fiction.
SANTA STRIKES BACK
Now it seems Santa's defenders are striking back.
The BBC, always proud of its news sources, published on its Web site what it called an unprecedented public statement in which Santa said the vicar should have known better than to put his faith in Internet gossip.
"Obviously if I had known a vicar was going to kill me off with a notepad and a slide rule, rather than having blind trust in my existence, I would have put my face around a bit more," the statement read.
Ray Kennedy, head of Santa's operations at Britain's Royal Mail, said belief in Santa hadn't waned in the eight years since he had taken over. The Royal Mail expected to handle 750,000 letters to Santa this year, up from 700,000 then.
"It's good for business but it is very good for children because it's the first letter the children will ever write and they'll get a response," Kennedy told Reuters. He said children appeared to be as motivated by goodwill as commercialism.
One girl's letter said: "I was only trying to wash my goldfish. I didn't mean to flush them down the toilet. Please can I have two more?" A little boy sent Santa a watch he received a year ago and asked if Santa would fix it.
Santa could not be reached for comment.
"He's too busy writing the letters at the moment and once he's finished with the letters, then he has to get the presents ready. He has a lot of work to do before Christmas Eve night," Kennedy said.
E-MAIL LETTERS UP
At the Atlanta-based Web site Claus.com, corporate communications director Liz Kronenberger said more than 100,000 people had written e-mail letters to Santa -- an increase of 50 percent over last year.
"The hundreds of e-mails we receive each day indicate that kids still believe in the magic of Santa," she told Reuters.
In one e-mail, a woman suffering from a disease affecting her nerves and memory wrote to thank Kronenberger for the chance to enjoy the smiles of her four grandchildren on what could be her last Christmas.
Santa can be good for politics. In both Australia and Canada, the prime ministers sang his praises.
"I believed in Santa when I was a kid and Santa is for children therefore I believe in Santa," Australia's John Howard told reporters. Canada's Jean Chretien even ascribed the country's healthy economy to Santa's efforts.
Also in Canada, Santa rallied the support of an even higher authority. The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), responsible for protecting U.S. and Canadian airspace, promises to track Santa's sleigh around the globe.
"Canadian fighter pilots will take the first pictures of his sleigh when he arrives over the continent," the Canadian Air Force said. The pictures may be seen on a six-language Web site, www.noradsanta.org.
History books suggest Santa has long had an image problem.
Santa -- who entered the picture as Nicholas, a kind-hearted fourth-century bishop in Turkey -- faced doubts even in 1897 when an eight-year-old girl, Virginia O'Hanlon, wrote to the New York Sun to question his existence.
"Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus," the newspaper replied on its editorial page. "He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy."
(Additional reporting by Ellie Tzortzi in Vienna, Belinda Goldsmith in Canberra, Erik Kirschbaum in Berlin and Reuters bureaux in New York and Toronto)
Sempers,
Roger