THE PROBLEM:
The U.S. Postal Service receives millions of letters addressed to Santa Claus. Because there’s no Post Office in the North Pole, these letters are undeliverable. Some kids ask Santa Claus for toys. Most kids ask for help.
We couldn’t let them go unanswered.
THE SOLVE:
We put the letters online for anyone to read and respond.
From the ground up, we built an elegant process to sort, collect, open, categorize, and digitize thousands of letters. All while protecting the senders’ private information. Tthese letters were uploaded in their original form—handwriting and all—so readers could feel a real connection to the writer. In one click, a reader could adopt a child’s letter on the spot and become their Santa.
designing the process:
Letter Processing
Letters are rerouted from USPS sorting facility to Rocky Mountain Data Corp. Letters are redacted, scanned, assigned a unique ID, and entered into an encrypted database to accessed by the volunteer tool.
Volunteer Tool
USPS employees review letters for accurate processing and proper redaction. Letters are approved, flagged, or sent to USPS for special handling. Approved letters are published to the adopter site.
Operation Santa
Adopter visits Operation Santa and selects letters to adopt. Once the letter is adopted, the user is prompted to provide contact information and are given instructions on how to proceed.
Gift Purchased
Gift is purchased and taken to post office.
USPS Fulfillment Center
Unique ID is used to access ZIP Code using new Op-Santa tool. RSS is used to determine postage. Adopter pays postage.USPS employee uses Op-Santa tool to print and affix label with address and delivery information.
Shipped to Child
The holidays are saved!
Bringing it to life:
The next challenge was to create an experience that was not only engaging enough to keep people coming back, but that would keep users in positive spirits when reading some of the more heartbreaking letters. My concept started as a sketch on scrap paper of what Santa’s mailroom must look like–Stories tall with multiple additions to accommodate all the letters which are pouring out the windows and chimney. Another sketch showed a letter with the mailroom interior as a backdrop.
From there, I fleshed out some comps and worked with producers to find the perfect illustrator/animator to really bring the concept to life. Many thanks to Colin Hesterly who understood my vision perfectly.
