# OfficeMax Elf Yourself

> OfficeMax's dancing-elf site drew a reported 36 million visits in its first season.

- Owner: OfficeMax (original brand); Office Depot (later owner)
- Kind: Campaign
- Sector: Retail
- Seed date: Nov 2006
- Peak proxy date: Dec 2007
- Date basis: Proxy date; not a directly measured attention peak. Dates use the stated precision; chart positions are date anchors.
- Spread Score: 36 (Niche, provisional), v1.3
- Mechanics: Shareable output, Remixable template, Platform jump, Press loop, Real-world spectacle

## Summary

OfficeMax's face-upload site spread through personal greetings, forums and broadcasters' own elf videos. JibJab joined in 2008; registration was removed the following year. Merchandise, annual relaunches and an iOS app extended the campaign.

## Timeline

- Nov 2006 — OfficeMax / Toy / EVB (Open web) — OfficeMax released a site that put an uploaded face on a dancing elf.
- 2006-12-24 — Paul Abernathy / InterNACHI members (Open web) — Paul Abernathy shared an elf greeting on a home-inspection forum, where members replied.
- 2007-01-07 — ElfYourself visitors (Open web) — The first season ended with over 36 million visits, according to the agencies' retrospective figures.

The full timeline, metrics and sources are on the case page, or via the Pro API (https://howitspread.com/developers).

Canonical URL: https://howitspread.com/cases/elf-yourself

Cite as: How It Spread (2026). “OfficeMax Elf Yourself.” Case HIS-01499. Spread Score v1.3: 36/100. Updated 2026-10-23. https://howitspread.com/id/HIS-01499