Newspaper Reports that Santa Has Died
- Publish date
- Monday, 21 Dec 2015, 1:14PM

Photo: iStock
A Norwegian newspaper has been forced to apologise after publishing an obituary for Santa.
Norway's second-biggest-selling paper, Aftenposten, wrongly published a fictional death announcement which read: "Dear Father Christmas, born 12 December 1788".
It went on to claim the Yuletide figure had died on December 3 in the Norwegian city of Nordkapp.
An image of a cross accompanied the message and gave Santa's age as 227 years old, with plans for a funeral at the North Pole Chapel on December 28.
The newspaper released a statement explaining an "error in Aftenposten's internal procedures led to a fictional obituary of Santa Claus [being] published in our digital systems.
"Aftenposten has strict guidelines for both the content and use of symbols in our obituaries. This ad is a violation of these and should never have been published."
The ad was reportedly removed immediately from the digital obituary pages when the publisher was made aware of the case.
Awkward......