Tuesday, December 24, 2013

Uh, Santa tracking was militarized long before 2013

Quote of the day (actually, from earlier this month):

“We’re concerned about the inclusion of the fighter jets in the Santa Tracker this year. While adults might find that funny, it sends a troubling message to the young children who believe in Santa that he is danger from ‘bad guys’ — and that Santa may have to shoot back. It’s also a backdoor way of promoting the military to young children,” said Josh Golin, Associate Director of Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood.

Um, the very fact that Santa is being tracked by NORAD is a way to promote the military to young children.

Of course, Golin probably doesn't like the Internet Explorer logo on the NORAD Santa website either.

And Golin would have really been upset if he had been around in 1955, when Sears posted an advertisement allowing kids to call Santa. Unfortunately, Sears got the phone number wrong - which is how NORAD got into the Santa tracking business in the first place.
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