Warning: Christmas spoilers below.
Paypal may be getting a lump of coal this Christmas, for potentially revealing the M. Night Shymalan twist of the holiday, that Santa is in fact not real.
The ad opens with two young boys laying in bed, discussing how they aren’t getting Christmas present this year. They say this because their parents haven’t been doing the usual Christmas shopping. Well, after initial disappointment they go downstairs to find presents under the tree. Their parents tricked them by using Paypal to order the presents online.
Harmless enough right? Wrong. Parents are apparently pissed at the ad because of its implications - parents buy all the gifts, and Santa doesn’t. As AdWeek reports, this spot has been running at all hours of the day, so kids who are still anticipating Santa to come through the chimney might have something spoiled. The tagline “Check out before they know it,” holds a different meaning with that line of thinking.
Paypal has apologized for the ad, which has received 100’s of complaints, saying they’re going to change the airdates so it only airs after 9 p.m.
“We just want to take a moment to say we’re sorry that some people have been upset by our new U.K. Christmas TV advert,” a spokeswoman told The Guardian. “Our ad aims to take a fun look at those Christmas presents kids know come from their parents, and not in any way say Father Christmas doesn’t also deliver presents to them.”
The ad isn’t intentionally full of spoilers, but the implication is certainly there. Good job Paypal.
