The Elf on the Shelf meme took the 2020 holiday season by storm, with celebrities rhyming their names and posting puns in new inventive ways for a meme challenge.
Comedian Amy Schumer has created one of the most viral posts with Heidi Klum, Orlando Bloom, Rumer Willis and herself. She posted the epic, “Klum on Bloom on Ruum on Schum on Zoom.”
The Elf on the Shelf tradition began in 2005, when Carol Aebersold and her daughter Chanda Bell self-published the book “Elf on the Shelf: A Christmas Tradition”, along with a special box with a small Elf Scout inside. In an interview with The News with Shepard Smith, Bell said the tradition was like a “simple hiding game.”
“The elf will watch us during the day, show up at Santa’s at night, and in the morning, before the kids wake up, the elf will fly back from the North Pole and land in a different place in the house,” Bell said. “They move around the house, they work with their families, we hope they bring a lot of joy and a lot of fun.”
Bell clarified some misconceptions about the popular Scout Elf, the first is that elves are not evil. Second, Scout Elves cannot speak to humans. In fact, they only speak at the North Pole. Third, Bell said that families do not buy Scout Elves, but adopt them. Over 14.5 million scout elves have been adopted worldwide since 2005. Finally, scout elves are magical North Pole-like creatures like Santa Claus, so they don’t suffer from human disease and don’t have to be quarantined during coronavirus pandemic.
“In fact, elves have only one weakness, which is that they can’t be touched by humans, it’s like kryptonite,” Bell said. “They will lose their Christmans magic, it’s very bad for them.”
Bell is co-CEO of Lumistella with her sister, Christa Pitts. Their company owns the “Elf on the Shelf” brand and continues to expand. Netflix recently acquired AV rights from Lumistella Company to develop original stories from the company’s entire portfolio. Their company has also formed new partnerships with brands such as Honey Baked Ham, Hoover Vacuum, Kellogg’s and Allstate. Bell said she hopes her story can inspire others to turn their ideas into reality.
“I tell people that you have to make that leap of faith, it’s one step ahead of the other and it’s hard, owning your own business, running your own business, self-publishing, these things require a lot of dedication, and a lot of patience, a lot of faith and a lot of risk, but in the end, hard work is worth it, and it’s worth it, “Bell said.