SYDNEY (AFP) - Santas in Australia's largest city have been told not to use Father Christmas's traditional "ho ho ho" greeting because it may be offensive to women, it was reported Thursday.
Sydney's Santa Clauses have instead been instructed to say "ha ha ha" instead, the Daily Telegraph reported.
One disgruntled Santa told the newspaper a recruitment firm warned him not to use "ho ho ho" because it could frighten children and was too close to "ho", a US slang term for prostitute.
"Gimme a break," said Julie Gale, who runs the campaign against sexualising children called Kids Free 2B Kids.
"We are talking about little kids who do not understand that "ho, ho, ho" has any other connotation and nor should they," she told the Telegraph.
"Leave Santa alone."
A local spokesman for the US-based Westaff recruitment firm said it was "misleading" to say the company had banned Santa's traditional greeting and it was being left up to the discretion of the individual Santa himself.
Actually, it sounds more like evidence that the media loves to manufacture scare stories about 'political correctness'. Most of these seem to turn out to be inaccurate, or to be describing a stand for simple politeness or common sense.
'Westaff has been a provider of quality, caring Santas for over 40 years," Ms Hegarty said.
"We have benefited from this experience by having insight into how best to deal with various situations Santa may encounter during the festive season.
"Part of our advice to our Santas is that they should be mindful of children having their first Santa experience.
"We ask our Santas to try techniques such as lowering their tone of voice and using 'ha, ha, ha' to encourage the children to come forward and meet Santa."'www.qt.com.au
Well, I guess we have the word of two 'disgruntled' ex-employees against the firm itself.
'Westaff national operations manager Glen Jansz said the company's Santas had been urged to "tone down" their use of the "ho, ho, ho" phrase – but he said it wasn't for fear of offending women.
"The reason behind that is we find that in some cases the little kids can get a little bit scared of the deep ho, ho, hos and we ask them to be mindful of keeping their voices to a lower level," he said.
"And kids are probably more inclined to understand `ha, ha, ha', than `ho, ho, ho'."
When Santa arrived at the Magic Cave after yesterday's Christmas Pageant, his only greeting to a crowd of hundreds of children was a wave and "Merry Christmas".
Department store Santas have been advised to lower their voices with really young children for at least 20 years. I also remember reading about alternate laughs instead of the "traditional" "Ho ho ho".
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"SIMON LAUDER: Melbourne's Santa consultant at recruitment agency Westaff, Deanna Terimo, says feedback from parents shows not all children respond well to the distinctive laugh.
DEANNA TERIMO: We only don't suggest it for children that perhaps are a bit more reserved and timid, rather than those who really enjoy the experience of Santa. We definitely recommend a ho-ho-ho every now and then, but once again you do have to, you know, analyse the situation and make sure the child wouldn't be frightened by it.
SIMON LAUDER: The more intensive training, with an emphasis on being sensitive to children, isn't restricted to one Santa recruitment firm.
Jill Holder works for Showtime, a firm, which has secured many a gig for Santa this year. She says while most children think the world of Santa, timid ones can easily be upset by an unexpected approach. She says that sometimes means holding back on the ho-ho-ho, but she says the Santa experience won't be diminished."
Look, nobody in Britain understands what'ho' means to an American and it is highly unlikely that Australians are any better placed. We and they'd only encounter it, possibly, if some American rap artist used it.Even those who have heard it would hardly get the significance to an American, which itself seems to depend on the circumstances and the person speaking.When Mr Imus made his unfortunate remark the incident was reported by one or two American correspondents to our 'serious' papers with a lengthy explanation of what 'ho' meant and why and how, and in what circumstances, it could be offensive. (Well I never !It's black American slang,from a rendering of 'whore'.Gosh! )
This story owes more to the ingenuity (or wit) of some Australian with an eye to contriving and then playing the story for an American market than it does to anything else, methinks.They were very successful: it played very well on American TV news The originator would face the problem of having to explain to Australian mothers, and everyone else, exactly what could be offensive about Ho or Ho Ho Ho and why.Whoever it was, they made a hit: American media fell for it !
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The originator would face the problem of having to explain to Australian mothers, and everyone else, exactly what could be offensive about Ho or Ho Ho Ho and why.Whoever it was, they made a hit: American media fell for it !
