Though this story has been out for a while, I just came across it. Hanukkah is not the only holiday whose traditions are under assault by overzealous social marketers this year. Recently, the acting US Surgeon General Steven Galson said that Santa Claus needs to slim down because “[i]t is really important that the people who kids look up to as role models are in good shape, eating well and getting exercise… Santa is no different.”
So, now is Santa going to have washboard abs and jog from house to house instead of riding in his sleigh? The image of Santa is so ubiquitous and steeped in tradition that the thought of someone trying to change what he looks like to turn him into a white-bearded Jack LaLanne is simply ridiculous.
I’m the first person to agree that portrayals of fictional people in popular culture can have an impact on social norms and individual health-related behaviors. That’s what entertainment education is all about, for gosh sakes. But we also have to operate within reality and realize that Santa is Santa and that many people have a strong emotional and nostalgic relationship with the traditional image. Messing with those traditions is asking for trouble and a major backlash against the overall cause of promoting a healthy body size.
Santa is not a role model for kids in the same way that someone like Hannah Montana would be an aspirational character. I don’t think that children want to grow up to be just like Santa one day. (Disclaimer: I did not grow up with Santa in my own holiday traditions, and have no particular feelings for him one way or the other, so I’m conjecturing here.)
Maybe instead of transforming Santa, parents could be encouraged to model healthful holiday behavior around their children. Instead of leaving him milk and cookies, they could have their kids think about some healthy snacks Santa might enjoy. They could take a Christmas day walk as a family or get up and get moving with their kids’ new Wii. Parents should identify the people in their children’s lives (friends/relatives/acquaintances as well as celebrities) who live a healthy lifestyle and have them spend time exposed to those role models. These are things that can positively impact the way kids think about eating and fitness — NOT taking beloved religious/cultural icons and shoehorning them into an image that is the opposite of what they are known for.
Santa can be a role model for generosity and love, but to recreate him into a fitness and nutrition advocate is just ho-ho-horribly misguided.
I hope your Christmas — for those of you who celebrate it — is a happy and healthy one, full of old and new traditions.
Photo Credit: twm1340
Note: Why was the Coca-Cola ad pictured above so effective and iconic? Because it transferred the positive feelings associated with the image to the product. If you change what Santa looks like, you can’t tap into those deep-rooted emotions in the same way.
Technorati Tags: christmas, santa, social marketing
Nedra helps nonprofits and public agencies create positive change on health and social issues through social marketing and transmedia storytelling strategies at Weinreich Communications since founding the company in 1995. She helps organizations make a difference for the populations they serve by strategically designing programs that draw on state-of-the-art behavior change techniques, digital media approaches and the power of stories. 
I agree…there are some things you just can’t change. A skinny Santa is one thing…but making COOKIE MONSTER eat healthy food? Now that’s going too far…
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/lifestyle/219386_nocookie.html
I don’t disagree with the thrust of your post, but until publication of Clement Moore’s “A Visit From St. Nicholas” (“‘Twas the Night before Christmas”), St. Nick alias Santa Claus alias Father Christmas was always pictured as slim! Our whole cultural picture of Santa — fat, driving a sleigh pulled by reindeer — came from that poem!
Speaking of Santa, a lot of people around where I live have not decorated this year. I am not sure if they can no longer afford to decorate or if they are trying to get rid of Santa and all that. The only decorations I have seen this year has been the navity scene and maybe a few lights here and there at places like Lowes, etc., but most people around here just haven’t decorated anything this year for some reason or another.
nicepost