Norway's Postal Service Plays Reindeer Games

Rudolph mock-doc sends up celeb culture

A certain red-nosed reindeer’s having a blue, blue Christmas.

Norway’s postal service sharply skewers celebrity culture—on Rudolph’s antlers, no less—in a pitch-perfect spoof about our obsession with the ups an downs of the rich and famous.

Pol created the short film with Bacon director Kasper Häggström. “The Reinfall” opens with Rudy sprawled face-down on a beach, his nose red but prospects not so bright.

A sordid tale unfurls, performed by actors wearing spiky headgear.

We learn that Rudolph’s fast-lane lifestyle took a heavy toll. “He lost himself”—and the true meaning of Christmas—”somewhere along the line.”

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In the end, with Santa’s team in turmoil, we’re assured that Posten stands ready to make Yuletide delivers in their stead. (Which is fine for Norway. The rest of the world’s can just lump it.)

“Every holiday season, the Norwegian Postal Service sets out to make a holiday ad that stands out,” Pol copywriter Thea Heber Iversen tells Muse. “By portraying a gay Santa, or hinting that Jesus might be the mailman’s son, the mission is the same: a different perspective on Christmas.”

“The last few years, we have made quite serious and emotional films,” she says. “With a world that seems to be crumbling under our feet, we thought this year was the perfect time to make something fun, whimsical and a little absurd.”

“Our goal is of course to stand out in the vast sea of warm, nice and classic Christmas ads, so that the Norwegian Postal Service gets extra attention.”

The team took great care to deliver a 4-minute romp that plays like a real trash-TV documentary. They used analog cameras to shoot the “archival footage” and cut numerous scenes to ensure a smooth, punchy flow.

Plus, “We let a man with reindeer antlers and a glowing nose loose in the streets with cameras hidden in the bushes” to capture some candid reactions, Iversen recalls.

It’s a sublimely silly, mildly subversive take on the season, a gleeful reminder that, sometimes, going down in history ain’t so jolly.