Santas across Australia have thrown their jolliness by the wayside in protest of a new instruction that they say “ha, ha, ha” instead of the traditional “ho, ho, ho.” According to The Daily Telegraph, Santa is “a rebel with a ‘claus.'”
Westaff, a Santa training agency that supplies Santas to hundreds of stores across Australia, has told its trainees that “ho, ho, ho” could frighten children and be considered derogatory to women because of the connotation of the word “ho.”
Westaff’s Santa coordinator wrote in an email explaining the company’s position, “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. We wish you and your family a very merry Christmas.”
After some Santas quit the training program over the issue and others expressed dismay at the language change, Westaff said that the ultimate choice of what greeting to proffer is up to each individual Santa.