Santa’s are only needed at Christmas – or are they? Think again.

In fact, there is a massive demand for Santa throughout the summer. For Santa it can be a really busy time of the year. This is when retailers, manufacturers, publicity companies, advertising agencies start gearing up for the Christmas season.

It takes time for companies to create the films, the advertisements, the promotional material needed for the Christmas period. TV channel Create & Craft hold a Christmas in June promotion to enable crafters to order supplies ready for the Christmas period. Who better to promote those products than a special visit from a very important person in a red suit?

What about those engaging, Christmas adverts that appear on TV every December?

These will have been written and filmed over the summer period.

Equally important is the need to promote products and services to journalists and the media. Editorial schedules mean that journalists are frequently creating copy about Christmas in the middle of July! It can be a hot summers day, and somewhere a journalist is writing copy about snow, ice, holly, Christmas presents and visiting Santa.

Taking part in special promotional days celebrating Christmas in July have become a normal feature of life for Santa and his elves as he greets countless journalists in search of festive stories.

Among the many typical summer Christmas promotions have companies hiring Santa to distribute merchandise. One such typical promotion involved taking Able & Cole’s free Christmas hampers around London in July so as to give customers an idea of what can be ordered for the festive season.

Santa has also appeared on cruise ships along the Thames as part of pre-Christmas promotions of Santa Cruises.

It is not unknown for some stores to start preparing their Christmas product areas as early as August. Promoting these areas with a visit from Santa does catch attention.

Santa and his elves are busy people, meeting all these innumerable demands on their time. This is why it is important to think ahead, and book Santa’s participation as early as possible. Always allow extra time during this period of the year, since it can be very hot work for Santa in his thick red robes. He will need periods away from the public or during filming to cool down.