Santa Claus: a public health pariah

Every year as winter sets in, people go through a yearly ritual called the Holidays. For some, Christmas is a celebration of the birth of Jesus, a religious event. For others, it’s a secular season of gift giving and receiving. For most, it’s a consumer regimented event. Weeks prior December 25th, the mainstream media revives images of a mythical Santa Claus to set in motion a festive mood that will entice consumer spending. In most minds Santa Claus is an American icon, the result of newspapers’ fictional alteration of Saint Nicholas and the contribution of advertising that framed the image of the Santa as we know it today. Yet only since 1773 has he been known as Santa Claus and perceived as a secular icon rather than a Saint. This beckons the question: how did this transformation occur? Is it truly a secular transition or a market driven substitution of a sacred figure?

There is a long enduring lay notion that children must be taught the difference between fiction and reality. Yet, cultural fictional characters such as Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy are widely promoted as real. With Santa Claus, children are faced with an additional conun-drum: multiple live versions of Santa Claus seen at malls, museums and parades. In two studies we investigate how and when children come to understand this live version of a fictional, magical character. In both studies, we find parents are highly promoting of the live Santa as real, regardless of child age. In Study 1, we find the more live Santas children are exposed to, the more they believe a live Santa is the real Santa. In Study 2, we find the more parents promote Santa Claus, the less likely children are to question who live Santa is. Taken together, findings indicate parental promotion of Santa does not change much with age, and that amount of Santa promotion is negatively associated with understanding this live version of a fictional character.

Journal of occupational medicine and toxicology (London, England), 2015

Previous publications in the field of Santa studies have not focused on health and safety issues arising from Santa's workplace activities. However, it should be acknowledged that unique occupational hazards exist for Santa Claus. Major occupational health issues affecting Santa are discussed, along with suggestions for future research directions.

Two studies examined the process and aftermath of coming to disbelieve in the myth of Santa Claus. In Study 1, 48 children ages 6 to 15 answered questions about how they discovered Santa was not real and how the discovery made them feel, and 44 of their parents shared their perspectives and how they promoted Santa. In Study 2, 383 adults reflected on their experiences shifting to disbelief in Santa Claus. In both studies, the average age of disbelief was around 8, but with significant variability. Most participants reported testimony from others contributed to their disbelief, and some reported skepticism as a result of either experience (e.g., observation) or logical reasoning. About a third of children and half of adults reported some negative emotions upon discovering the truth. Higher levels of parental Santa promotion were associated with experiencing some negative emotions upon discovering the truth in both studies. Additionally, adults who reported feeling only negative emoti...

Christmas - Philosophy for Everyone: Better Than a Lump of Coal (Scott Lowe (ed.), Wiley-Blackwell, 2010).

I argue that parents should stop lying to their children about Santa--that they should stop promoting literal belief in Santa Claus in their children. It's an immoral lie, it is a bad parenting practice (e.g., it creates trust issues), and it encourages credulity. An updated and expanded version of this argument appears in David Kyle Johnson’s: The Myths that Stole Christmas: Seven Misconceptions that Hijacked the Holiday (And How We Can Take it Back) It can be ordered at: http://www.humanistpress.com/david-kyle-johnson.html

ICOANA CREDINTEI. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF INTERDISCIPLINARY SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH, 2017

The idea of Santa Claus is a universal one, which has been carried on for generations despite many obstacles. Although related to fantasy and imagination, he belongs to all cultures and for children he maintains a real presence. Cognitive Science examines the idea of this mysterious individual and brings clarification to his existence in society. Because this “superhero” plays a part in society, he needs a mental structure that can be imagined, a particular and specific cognitive structure. The study identifies the cognitive mechanisms by which the idea of Santa Claus is generated. The history of Santa has interfered with religion since ancient times. He is sometimes confused with religious figures. Cognitive Sciences as applied to religion seem to confirm the universality of religious beliefs and a certain similarity between the idea of Santa Claus and that of holy persons, such as St. Nicholas. However, there are opinions within this field of research that differentiate between the two areas: fantasy and religious.

FACTA UNIVERSITATIS Series: Linguistics and Literature, 2017

The study traces the historical phenomenon of Saint Nicholas, the renowned icon known as Santa Claus. The objective is to demonstrate how advertisers have seized the virtues of Santa Claus as an article of persuading consumers. Owing to the interdisciplinary nature of this enquiry exemplified in the domains of history, linguistics and advertising, the concept of ideology enraptured in interpellation is adopted as both the analytical tool and discursive assistant to unravel the data meaning-making potentiality. The author utilizes twelve adverts associated with Santa Claus as illustrations in which six of them are from the Coca-cola Company ® as a reference of honour as well as a signal to the role the institution plays in promoting the heroic persona. The study reveals the universality and acceptability of Santa Claus in global affairs during the Yuletide season. That hegemonic influence is perceived as motivation for advertisers to project Santa Claus in a civilized way as a cook, a dove or an angel, a car lover or owner, an alcoholic or a lover of alcohol, and a banker. Santa Claus with his traditional values enthralled in kindness to humanity is further represented as a parsimonious person somehow addicted to sugary contents without any unhealthy resultant effects. In all, the traditional etiquette of Santa Claus established by Saint Nicholas and promoted by Coca-cola ® , the study suggests, is worthy of emulation for all. Perhaps, through such characteristic adoption the political violence and terrorism intimidating the world can be laid to rest in no time and at less cost.

Global Studies of Childhood, 2018

Investigating children’s pop cultures that rely on myth-making provide understandings about how children are active agents in the socialization into cultural and moral practices in their everyday lives. An annual visit to Santa Claus is important in children’s pop culture in the Western world, however, the social practices associated with the continuation of the myth are under-reported. Drawing on the related methodologies of ethnomethodology, conversation analysis and membership categorization analysis, this article examines video-recordings of children talking to Santa at a North American shopping mall. An inherent problem for Santa across the interactions is how to talk about the children’s wished-for item without actually promising the gift. Analyses show that Santa manages this problem through the design of his turn and responses, which allows him to mitigate and propose why certain items might not be delivered. Despite the infrequency of the interaction between Santa Claus and...

Hungarian Studies Yearbook , 2020

In this paper the author argues that the Christmas holidays, notwithstanding their international standing as a religious and commercial season, are most productively understood as a glocal phenomena, a concept intended to link the local with the global in a dialectics of homogenization and particularism. Juxtaposing data from Hungary and Eastern Europe, the author provides an anthropological analysis that highlights the transformative power Christmas traditions and Santa Claus have played in diverse cultural settings since the late twentieth-century. For even the imposition of communist ideology, conceived as a globalizing force, failed to eradicate images of Santa Claus; both his persona and that of his devilish imp, Krampus, survived such ruthless attempts at indoctrination with only the slightest of modifications. In view of its economic and cultural significance, this paper argues in favor of international recognition of Saint Nicholas day, December 6 th, as a glocal civil holiday.

BMJ, 2016