Busted! Bay of Islands convenience store shares silly elf footage on social media
Named after Otis Spunkmeyer cookies, Otis the Elf loves anything sweet!
We all know that elves on shelves can get into some pretty mischievous situations, but a convenience store in Irishtown-Summerside near Corner Brook has proof.
Brent's Convenience manager Kristen Sweet said they decided to adopt an elf from the North Pole three years ago. Since then, Otis the Elf returns each December to spread holiday cheer.
Each morning, staff at the store look over surveillance footage from the night before to see what kind of shenanigans Otis gets up to after everyone goes home.
"We have caught Otis drinking slushies out of the slushy machines, making coffee, tearing into bags of chips, eating chocolate bars, dropping off gifts for children — there's nothing Otis hasn't been into."
The store shares videos of Otis's antics on their Facebook page every day as a hint for children who want to come to the store and find him for themselves. Once they find him, they receive a candy cane and a ballot to enter to win Otis's Christmas Eve Grand Prize.
As for what Otis thinks of all the social media attention, Sweet said he loves it when children come to find him.
"I think Otis is a pretty big attention hog. He behaves pretty ridiculously in front of the cameras and I think he's really enjoying the attention," Sweet said.
Seven-year-old Paige Wells said she likes watching videos of Otis the Elf every morning.
"I saw him rolling around in the store, and like, I saw him eating cookies and chips," said Wells.
"He was hanging off the slushie maker, and he was in a bag of chips."
Otis isn't the only elf in five-year-old Letti Hulan's life. She said this week she found her own adopted elf peering into a bird house. After she finds her own elf in the morning, she said she makes sure to stop into the store to find Otis.
"My mommy showed the video about him doing cart wheels," said Hulan. "I heard about some elves that like CDs. I always watch videos about the elves."
When Otis isn't busy dancing around or eating cookies, he also has the very important job of delivering letters to Santa Claus in the North Pole.
When visiting the store this week, six-year-old Carter Young was delighted to discover that he received a letter back.
"I wanted to come and get my letter and this morning I came to look for Otis," said Young. "I write letters to Santa and Otis or Santa writes it back."
Otis, named after Otis Spunkmeyer cookies, will be at Brent's Convenience until Christmas Eve making memories before heading back to the North Pole for another busy year of making toys.