Will Ferrell had experience of plating a Mall Santa, with his A Night at the Roxbury (1998) co-star Chris Kattan as his elf. As Ferrel recounted in an interview with Spliced Wire:

” I have some experience playing Santa Claus … Chris Kattan was my elf at this outdoor mall in Pasadena for five weeks, passing out candy canes. It was hilarious because little kids could care less about the elf. They just come right to Santa Claus. So by the second weekend, Kattan had dropped the whole affectation he was doing and was like ‘Santa’s over there, kid.’