With 138 days until Christmas, Father Christmas swapped Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer for Dino the seaside donkey on Tuesday for a mid-summer publicity stunt at London’s famed Harrods department store.
Santa Claus, cutting a dashing figure in a striped old-fashioned bathing suit, presided over the unveiling of Harrods’ special Christmas range of gifts, food, cards and wrapping, spread over two floors.
”Like a waistband after Christmas lunch, Harrods is bursting at the seams with spectacular gifts,” boasted a spokesperson for the venerable Knightsbridge emporium, owned by Egyptian-born tycoon Mohamed Al Fayed.
Toy Daleks from the resurrected British sci-fi TV series Dr Who and life-like Robopets are tipped to be Yuletide hits with children when Christmas rolls around on December 25. — Sapa-AFP