Some malls across the USA have beefed up “the Santa experience” in their locations and have hung out a for sale sign just to see the jolly old elf. The going for price for sitting on Santa’s knee in these locations is $35. And parents are outraged.
A Philadelphia mall which offered Santa for free last year is under fire this year for charging the $35 fee.
“Disgusting!” wrote Alison Potter Bramhall on the New Jersey shopping center’s Facebook page. “You are effectively telling less fortunate children that Santa doesn’t want to see them unless their parents can pay.”
There are similar reports all over the country: Chicago, Atlantic City, Orlando, San Francisco, San Diego, Las Vegas and Dallas.
This comes on the heels of a failed “Santa adventure” by Simon Malls that removed Christmas trees and the familiar trappings of Christmas surrounding their Santa and put him in an ice cave with high priced packages for photos.
A similar movement online exists for websites that charge outrageous fees to connect with Santa Claus. The usual Santa letter sites are out there but this year there is a preponderance of sites that charge for personalized videos, texts and photographs.