Elf Yourself

OfficeMax® created the site ElfYourself.com in November 2007. You can insert your jpg pictures and click a button to turn them into animated elves, and click another butten to send to friends. Can we say "chain letter"? That's what viral marketing is all about, apparently.

If you receive an elf, the note tells you it is brought to you by Office Max, so that's the promotional bit. The chain letter part is this: the internet is going to be inundated and squirming with so many people elfing themselves that by the time the holidays are over, at least some of us won't want to see another elf for a very, very long time.

The site has good audio, something definitely in its favor. The sleigh bells with a couple of claps thrown in every so often make a charming background sound.

But, it is viral, so it is a chain letter.

It went away after the 2007 Christmas season, but sure enough, with the coming of the 2008 Christmas season came:

the Return of the Dreaded "Elf Yourself" - OH NO! and that is just one blog sighting.