Surely it’s some kind of peer reviewed joke. A researcher at Monash university has published a paper in the British Medical Journal saying it’s time to re-think Santa because he’s an obese, speeding drink-driver who spreads disease and is therefore a bad role model.
Ditto, obviously, for the tooth fairy who is doing a roaring trade in body parts. And the Easter Bunny must be a bad role model too because he brings chocolate and also makes no sense. And the bogeyman, who has questionable hygiene and engages in the potentially deadly activity of climbing up on rooftops to make things go bump.
There are too many bad role models around kids, but they’re much more omnipresent than Santa. The morbidly obese, the lazy, the cheats and liars of the world are everywhere and tragically some kids see this behaviour in their homes 365 days a year. And that’s before you get to rugby league players and drug-addled Hollywood starlets.
At the heart of the study by Nathan Grills of Monash University is the contention that Santa is becoming a marketing tool, and in that capacity he’s a bad role model. From the Herald Sun:
The childhood legend should be used to promote a healthy lifestyle, the study, published in the British Medical Journal, found.
It suggested Santa slim down by ditching the cookies, mince pies and milk, and instead snacking on his reindeers’ carrots and celery sticks. Santa also should trade in the sleigh for a bike or throw his sack over his shoulder and hit the global road on foot.
Importantly, there’s also this:
Dr Grills denied he was a “public health scrooge”.
“I wouldn’t go as far as saying that Santa causes obesity - it’s more about raising wider issues around advertising and public health,” he said.
“Christmas is about a loving and giving. I would like to see us reclaim that part of Santa, not seeing him used as a pawn in a marketing campaign.”
Sure, Santa may have had a few too many pies. But I’m sure the extra weight helps out during the freezing Lapland winter.
I think what’s missing from this is that nobody wants to be Santa Claus. They just want him to come down the chimney.
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