How does he do it?

In todays Frazz (a comic) the suggestion is made that Santa can afford the toys he gives every year by licensing his image. At first glance, it seems like a pretty good idea. But then, the scientist part of me wants to check it out a bit more in depth. So ...

According to the International Database (IDB) , the current world population is between 6 and 7 billion people. Further looking at the age demographics for several countries and making an eyeball guess, we discover that less than a third of that population is "Santa eligible" (that is under 18 years of age). So Santa has to get gifts for approximately 2 billion kids.

Now let us be somewhat conservative and assume that Santa's burdened cost per kid for gifts is $25. That is, the cost of the gifts and delivery totals $25. (After all there are costs associated with keeping a team of reindeer and a supersonic sled in operational shape.) So Santa has to make
          ($25/kid)  X (2 billion kids) = $50 billion
just to cover the gift and delivery costs.

There are 365 days per year (ignoring leap years), so each day Santa has to make
          ($50 billion) / 365 = $136,986,301.37 per day =~ $136,986,301 per day
from his image licensing.

Let's be generous and assume that Santa gets his image out there 100,000 times each day on average around the world. Then he has to get
        ($136,986,301) / 100,000 = $1,369.86 =~ $1,370
 per licensed image display.

Now if we go to a site like Phototour and fill out the form for licensing as a full page cover photo in an ad for a press run of 100,000, we find out that the fee for a photo of a farm and barn is around $650. I assume that personal images like Santa would be worth more. Likewise, TV appearances would be more expensive. So coming up with an average of $1,370 per image exposure might indeed be possible. (Always assuming that Santa doesn't become so overexposed that no one will pay for his image anymore.)

So there you have it. Santa pays for the Christmas extravaganza by licensing his image for all the advertising every year. Now we know how he does it. {*grin*}