Norad Tracks Santa: the PR campaign that won hearts worldwide

In an article published by Gizmodo in 2014, reporter Matt Novak wrote, “Norad’s Santa tracker program is one of the most successful military PR campaigns of the last century. It’s even cited in public relations textbooks as a shining example of how to run a Christmas-themed PR campaign. And it’s still going strong.”

Fast forward 10 years, and Norad Tracks Santa (to give its official title) is going stronger than ever.

Norad stands for the North American Aerospace Defense Command, based in Colorado Springs. For 364 days of the year, it monitors and protects the airspace around the USA and Canada.

On Christmas Eve, however, Norad’s job is to track Santa on his journey from the North Pole as he delivers presents to children all over the world.

Thousands of people, made up of military personnel, local volunteers, and the occasional global celebrity, will be sitting by phone lines taking calls from dozens of different countries, mostly made up of kids eagerly asking, “Is Santa Claus on his way?”

Last year, they handled around 400,000 calls, which is thought to be a record figure. What started off as a canny PR stunt in 1955 with a cute, albeit embellished backstory, has become something far more meaningful.

“In 2022, we received calls from Ukraine,” explains Colonel Kelly Frushour, who is head of media relations for Norad Tracks Santa.

Those Ukrainians simply wanted somebody to talk to about being at war on Christmas Eve and ended up speaking to a member of the leadership team at Norad.

“I know we also get stories of kids who call in from a hospital, who want to know if Santa will be able to find them,” adds Col Frushour, who was appointed to the role earlier this year.

In 2023, the operation moved from a building into a hangar at the Norad HQ to handle more calls.

“We ask people in the command, ‘Do you speak any other languages?’” Frushour adds. “So, I have a captain here who is a Korean linguist, and we’ll put him on calls at a time when folks from Korea might be dialling in, because how special will it be to have a Santa update in your own language?”

“The previous unit I oversaw were the marine security guards at all the US embassies and consulates around the world. Before I even knew I was coming here (to do Norad Tracks Santa), I called my friend, Colonel Elizabeth Matthias, who was my predecessor. We had previously worked together at the Pentagon.

“I said, ‘You know what, I have marine security guards all over the world. Is there a way that we could help confirm reports of Santa's locations?’

“We filmed a bunch of short video clips of marine security guards at embassies, including London, Beijing, and Rio de Janeiro… and marines were able to say, ‘Yes, we can confirm that Santa is here. We saw him not too long ago. Thank you, Norad, for tracking Santa.”

Aside from helping to maintain the magic of Christmas for nearly 70 years and firmly establishing itself as a festive tradition, tracking Santa has achieved the not-inconsiderable feat of creating a more family-friendly image of the US military.

The programme has won several awards from the Public Relations Society of America, and the story behind how it all started could be seen as a masterclass in PR.

THE MAGIC OF CHRISTMAS

In 1955, Colonel Harry Shoup was stationed with Conad (Continental Air Defense Command, which became Norad in 1958), which had been founded the previous year primarily to track any Soviet bombers flying over the Arctic.

Suddenly, Shoup's hotline started ringing. As he later recalled, only the Pentagon and General Earle E Partridge, Conad’s commander in chief, should have had access to that hotline.

In 1955, the world was in the grip of the Cold War. They lived in times as dangerous and uncertain as they are right now. In May of that year, Russia joined forces with a block of eastern European countries to create the Warsaw Pact, designed to counterbalance Nato. China had launched artillery attacks against Taiwan, and tensions were still running high between North and South Korea.

So when the hotline rang, Shoup assumed it was serious. Very serious. He picked up the receiver and said, “Sir, this is Colonel Shoup.”

Silence. He repeated himself. Still no response.

Then, eventually, he heard a little girl’s voice. “Are you really Santa Claus?”

Shoup later made a video for Norad in which he talked about the conversation with that little girl. She had gotten through to him after seeing an ad in the Colorado Springs Gazette placed by the Sears department store promoting a service to call Santa.

Shoup initially thought it was a prank. The little girl then asked how he delivered all the presents, to which he replied, “Well, that’s the magic of Christmas.”

Yet, if it all sounds a bit too perfect, that’s because it is. Without wishing to destroy Shoup’s ‘magic,’ when Matt Novak delved into the history of Norad Tracks Santa, he noted that the general public cannot get through to a military hotline, not even by mistake – and not even back in 1955.

Novak also discovered that the call happened on 30 November, and the girl got through to Shoup’s regular phone line by accident, having dialled the wrong digits from the number published in that Sears newspaper ad.

Yet Shoup's version endures and is trotted out by newspapers and websites every December.

What is beyond dispute is that Shoup quickly realised the PR potential of the story to help promote the US military as being a force for good, fighting against evil.

A press release was put out on December 23, 1955, stating that “Conad, Army, Navy, and Marine Air Forces will continue to track and guard Santa and his sleigh on his trip to and from the US against possible attack from those who do not believe in Christmas.”

MICHELLE OBAMA TRACKS SANTA

In 2010, the programme struck gold when representatives of Michelle Obama got in touch to say she would like to join in and take calls.

Obama continued doing this until 2016, the final year she was FLOTUS, which included the following exchange from a pair of kids named Adilyn and Aidena:

Michelle Obama: I am working with Norad right now, and I'm looking at the computer screen, and right about this time – ooh, I'm detecting something on the radar screen. It is – yes, it is Santa, and he is being pulled by reindeer. He is flying right now over Malta. That's where he is. He's over that part of the world right now. And there is one lead reindeer with a shiny nose – who do you think that is?

Adilyn and Aiden: Rudolph!

Michelle Obama: That's Rudolph! He's pulling him hard and fast. And the weather looks pretty clear over Malta. And right after he flies over Malta, he's heading towards Italy – Rome, Italy. So he is all the way on the other side of the world. He's in Europe right now, and he's heading your way! So, I think if you want Santa to get there before the morning, you guys have to go to sleep, okay?

Adilyn and Aiden:  Yes, ma'am.

Michelle Obama: He's not going to show up until you're fast asleep, all right? I know it's exciting, but you've got to close your eyes, and the minute you close your eyes, and he gets to that part of the world, he's going to drop off your toys, okay?

Adilyn and Aiden:  Yes, ma'am.

Sadly, there’s no record of whether Aiden got the hoverboard he asked for or whether Santa had delivered a hedgehog for Adilyn.

Norad Tracks Santa has also successfully adapted to the digital world with an app, website, and social media feeds. “For our 70th birthday next year, we're looking at a VR component. If you have the Oculus headset, you can ride side saddle with Santa and see where he is," Frushour reveals. 

She adds. “Technology helps us do the program, but the programme is really about tracking Santa. That’s evergreen. You know, it is not going to fall victim to technology updates

"As a public relations professional, you understand that it's really hard to compete for people's attention. So when you do, you want to make sure that the information you're sharing is important and relevant to them.

“For the military, I think it's hard to fight against being seen as the people on the other side of the fence. The fact that we can all connect over this one event is wonderful."

Norad’s Santa tracker goes live on 1 December

Ryan Herman is a journalist, author and editor. His latest book, And Finally… The Weird and Wonderful World of News, is out now from Pavilion Books.