‘Virtual Father Christmas’: Is this what Christmas looks like this year?

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Virtual Father Christmas is a new venture launched by four friends and business people.

Virtual Father Christmas is a business which offers a virtual Christmas experience. It includes downloadable video ‘tasks’, pre-recorded personalised recordings, interactive Zoom calls with Santa and socially distanced visits from real life elves to your door.

“It is about being reactive,” one of the partners Jayd Linney says.

It is uncertain how long Covid-19 will affect our lives but with a very Covid-19 Christmas underway, Jayd Linney, Lisa Sansom, Holly Muldoom and Simon Etheridge are keying in on interactivity.

Michael Head, senior research fellow in global health at Southampton University tells The Independent: “Come the winter, there are significant concerns about a sharp increase in coronavirus cases. This could coincide with the start of flu season and is a time when hospitals and GPs are traditionally under even more pressure.”

Jayd Linney says “Christmas is a feeling … it became apparent digital entertainment is going to be the entertainment for the rest of the year.”

“I’ve never really been into this these Christmas [cliches] … let’s make everyone happy” Journalism student Elizabete Junga says. When asked if she felt this would work any other year, she responded “yeah, why not?” It brings into question whether virtuality is an aspect of 2020 or simply an aspect of the future. “Someone would be interested” she says.

Daisy Jones is a Journalism student who is looking forward to celebrating Christmas. She says: “I think this would work any other year, even if life went back to normal it could save time on people leaving the house.”

Dr Simon Clarke, professor of cellular microbiology at the University of Reading tells The Independent, “If anyone tells you a date they are staring into a crystal ball. The reality is that it [Covid-19] will be with us forever because it has spread now.”

Jayd Linney and her partners are preparing to launch a global platform for pre-recorded personalised recordings and interactive Zoom calls with Father Christmas. They have staff who “need jobs”. Due to Covid-19, their personal event businesses have “become redundant.” Jayd Linney wants people to “forget everything going on around them during the calls.”

“A magical and interactive festive experience for the whole family” Jayd says.