You heard right. In this tough economy, not even Santa’s reindeer and elves are safe. In the Christmas window displays at Macy’s on State Street, the windows feature robotic reindeer and elves overseeing the process of making sure childrens’ “Dear Santa” letters get to the Big Guy.

In an unofficial statement (READ: one that I have completely made up), a Macy’s spokeswoman said, “This year the reindeers and elves usually displayed in our windows joined a union and demanded better pay. We simply did not have the budget, so we hired a bunch of robots who would work for half the price.”

When I called the North Pole, a Chris Kringle spokesman said, “No comment.”

Macy’s Christmas window displays in Chicago have been getting a lot of heat lately, some people even saying they suck.

I think the displays are cute and fun to look at, though some of the robotic reindeers look scary (see above). Despite the complaints I think it is worth it to check them out and check out the Walnut room inside Macy’s while your at it. The tree this year is boring but shiny, and we all know how much you love shiny objects.

Dev xx