When Adam Reed, father and author, announced REINDEER IN HERE, a direct challenger to the popular Elf on the Shelf franchise, he knew it wouldn’t be easy. The social media campaign he created, #ShelfTheElf generated buzz for the story’s Black Friday 2017 release and quickly went viral. Within hours of becoming available on Amazon, REINDEER IN HERE sold out its initial large run and has instantly become an Amazon #1 New Release and Amazon Best Seller.
With only two weeks of promotion leading up to the Black Friday launch, through social media, blogs, and news reports, Reed never anticipated this level of demand, both domestically and internationally. This run of REINDEER IN HERE was intended to only be a large test run, gauging whether it was even possible to dethrone The Elf on the Shelf. Although exact numbers aren’t being released, it’s estimated that thousands of units sold, and REINDEER IN HERE has officially solidified its place as the only bonafide direct competitor to Elf on the Shelf.
Demand is now reaching a global scale with requests for product from the UK, Australia, Canada, and beyond. Reed intends to scale REINDEER IN HERE for the mass market next holiday season. His goal is to give every family a chance to experience what he hopes will be a new Christmas tradition for many years to come.
“I am humbled and grateful, that the product I initially intended to create for my own family has been adopted by so many thousands of other families across the country and world,” says Reed. “My goal was simple, create a yearly holiday tradition that would give children a Christmas friend throughout December that they can touch, hold and love; lessen stress on parents; and celebrate the spirit, magic, and tradition of Christmas in a way that an elf who stares at children and watches their every move cannot.”
Since its 2005 release, Elf on the Shelf has proven to be both a Christmas tradition and commercial success, leading holiday sales charts each year. As time wore on and its popularity grew, the story began to receive criticism from both parents and experts on child psychology.
The Elf billed as “Santa’s reporter” in the story, has become a dark mark on what should be a happy time of the year. Parents exhaust themselves finding new places to display the accompanying toy elf each day. Meanwhile, many children live in fear of this behavior as the elf sits quietly above them, watching their every move.
Psychologists have come out against using The Elf on the Shelf as a parenting tool, citing issues with fear-based good behavior and its ability to lead to other issues later in life.
After the birth of his daughter, Reed found himself looking for a Christmas tradition to start with his own family and quickly discovered that he too became one of the parents questioning the elf’s effectiveness. REINDEER IN HERE is his attempt at providing a friendlier, more positive tool for parents and children to get into the holiday spirit. As the children bond with their Christmas friend the entire family creates a lasting Christmas tradition as everyone looks forward to REINDEER IN HERE coming back year after year.
“Not only have we shelved the elf,” says Reed. “But in doing so we’ve created LESS STRESS for parents and MORE CHRISTMAS for families across the globe. I couldn’t be more proud of our little REINDEER IN HERE and all it has accomplished in such a short time.”
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