NORAD Adds Santa’s Fighter Jet Escort to Tracking Animation

NORAD, the US (and Canadian) air defense command
for North America, has been “tracking” Santa Claus since the 1950s,
and this year, for the first time, it’s going to
include fighter jets in the animation video (still pictured
right) it produces of Santa’s flight. The move has some children’s
advocates claiming the military is trying to covertly advertise to
children through the Santa program.
Via the Boston Globe:

 “Children associate Santa with gifts and fun and
everything else that is positive about Christmas,” said Allen
Kanner, a California child and family psychologist and cofounder of
the Boston-based Campaign for a Commercial Free Childhood. “They
are associating this with the military in children’s minds. It is
completely out of line.”

…Some worry that American youth are already sufficiently
indoctrinated by the military — and wonder why the Department of
Defense would deem it necessary to target little kids who still
believe in Santa Claus.

“I think people are quite aware of the military’s true mission,”
said Amy Hagopian, a professor of public health at the University
of Washington, who has written extensively about military
recruiting of youngsters. “If the military
wants to keep its ranks stocked, it needs to appeal to children.
The military knows it can’t appeal to adults to volunteer. It is
like the ad industry.’’

Though the inclusion of fighter jets in the actual animation of
Santa Calus is new, a spokesperson
pointed out to Reuters that NORAD’s Santa-related activities
have linked fighter jets to the imaginary character’s make-believe
flights since the 60s. The Santa tracking program
began in 1955, when a Sears ad accidentally listed NORAD’s
predecessor’s phone number in a campaign to call Santa, and is
reportedly funded entirely through corporate sponsorships, at no
taxpayer expense.

You can watch a NORAD video explaining the program here and the video
featuring the fighter jets below: