http://www.nma.tv On Dec. 12, Next Media Animation released a satirical animation about The Elf on the Shelf, a doll marketed by Georgia book publisher CCA and B. It got attention of the company's lawyers, who sent a letter to NMA threatening legal action for alleged defamation and trademark infringement. "Elf on the Shelf all the rage for Christmas 2011″ drew upon a publicly expressed sentiment that the infant-sized elf doll — which, according to the accompanying storybook, keeps careful watch over a household on behalf of Santa Claus — is nothing more but a creepy way to coerce children into behaving and parents into buying Elf on the Shelf products. These ideas were taken to their hyperbolic conclusion by NMA in our parody of The Elf on the Shelf viral marketing as part of a more general satirization of how such products threaten the ethical pillars on which Christmas is built, namely, "to be good for goodness sake."
