Why Macy’s Declined To Be In A Now Iconic Christmas Movie
Would Elf be the same if Buddy worked in Macy’s? Well, there was a chance that it could have happened. There are many classic Christmas movies families sit down to watch over the holiday season. One of them is the Will Ferrell Christmas classic Elf.
In the Will Ferrell hit movie, the Elf Buddy realizes he doesn’t fit in with the other elves and leaves the North Pole searching for his real dad in New York City. During his search, he learned about modern Christmas while working in a department store during the holiday season. In the movie, Buddy works in a department store called Gimbles, which used to be a significant competitor for Macy’s in the 80s. But many people did not know that Macy’s actually declined to be in the iconic movie.
For many people, Macy’s is synonymous with Christmas, and people come from across the country to see its decorations and St. Nick in its New York store. It would have been the perfect fit for the movie. It was the first choice for the film’s director, but Macy’s declined the offer. So why would Macy’s decline such a great offer to promote their store?
In one scene in the film, Buddy confronts Gimble’s in-house Santa and tells him he is not the real Santa, as Buddy grew up with the real one at the North Pole. Due to this scene, Macy’s declined the film, as they did not want to ruin the magic of their own in-house Santa and Christmas atmosphere within their store.
This cameo was a massive opportunity for Macy’s to cement itself as the top-ranking Christmas store in America and receive mountains of free marketing that would be used year after year. But for them, it did not align with how they ran their business at Christmas time, and they did not want kids to think that they had fake Santas in the stores.
To combat this problem, the film’s director decided it would be better to use a department store that went out of business to ensure that it wouldn’t ruin the magic of any store currently open with a Santa’s grotto in-house.
Along with Macy’s secret offer, there are plenty of other behind-the-scenes anecdotes from Elf. For instance, the director had to use a filming technique called forced perspective to make Buddy seem bigger than anyone else he is in a scene with when he is at the North Pole. But using a method like this meant that everything had to be exact onset.
Also, the actors were encouraged to ad-lib where they thought necessary, which resulted in more authentic reactions, making the film so heart-warming.
Over the last few years, Elf has increased in popularity and is one of the Christmas films everyone watches. It is light-hearted and fun, which makes it a family favorite everyone can enjoy again and again. It is a film that could have been better with the addition of Macy’s, but by declining, they are ensuring children believe in the Christmas magic for a little bit longer.
