Elf on the Shelf, Being Naughty, WHY?

"Why doesn't he do what he was made for?"

He doesn't do anything, he is a creepy looking doll.

It is a creepy doll that someone wrote a book for. For the life of me I don't understand why you would want to do as instructed.

Hey kids!! Look, mom invited this creepy elf to the house, he is going to watch you all the time!! Let the nightmares begin!

The naughty elf pics are fir the amusement of adults, not children.
It's hardly the first time adults have had fun playing with kids' toys in ways that were off-label and off-color.

Honestly, 25 days is a lot of days to come up with something clever. Also, the Elf might just "move" at midnight or 5am when he suddenly remembers that he was supposed to move. So maybe those aren't the most appropriate idea-generating times, particularly when one is half asleep :)
Our elf does a few little naughty things- dyes the milk green, hangs from the ceiling fan on a string of bows, hides behind the rearview mirror in my car, etc. He got in a snowball fight with some Lego men, a race with several versions of the Batmobile, and was captured by a gang of dinosaurs. One day he left treats for our dogs, who were feeling left out.
Why? My cranky, not-morning-people kids will jump out of bed to look for him every morning. And it amuses me.

Haven't read any previous answers, so just my take on this:

Elf on the Shelf-- the whole idea-- is creepy. I never did it with our son. That said, the Elf on the Shelf naughty pics are HILARIOUS! The most debauched ones are the funnniest. What's humorous about this is the irony that a toy which was intended to be annoyingly self-righteous, a Christmas Jiminy-Cricket, if you will, is getting played with and sent up for sport. It remind us that many of those figures in our culture who spout virtue and wholesomeness are just as depraved as the rest of us-- and likely even more so, what with all that repression.

I really hope you were asking this as a joke question-- I think it's important to take a moment every once in a while to ask why we enjoy, get caught up in, or promote certain things like parody, even when it's beyond silly or smutty or downright perverse. I think we still love and seek distraction and some of us get some sort of need met from those laughs. Why do people like to watch America's Funniest Home Videos with cats falling off roofs and people getting kicked in the crotch or barfed on by their kids? I think real unfortunate incidents happening to real living beings is far more creepy to laugh at than staged photos.... but still, laugh we do. Laugh, we do.

Because it's funny, the end. You're overthinking it. I don't depend on a toy reporting to Santa to get my kids to behave, my parenting is responsible for that... The elf is just a fun and funny holiday tradition in our house :) He's currently in the fridge hanging on a champagne bottle, the kids are anxiously awaiting his annual turning all the beverages green haha!

Why do him anyways? Those who do the naughty stuff do it for the same reason others do him for their kids, a little holiday fun. It is not like this elf is some long standing holiday tradition, someone saw a way to make some money and invented him, the end.

I often wonder if Elf on the Shelf is more for the parents than anything- thus all the mischief and mayhem. They do it to post pics on facebook or other various streams to show all their friends how funny and creative they think they are being with their kids. My kid saw that thing and thought it was completely creepy-looking (I have to agree). No Elf fans at our house (well I'm sure the dog would love to play a little game of catch with him).
I don't get Elf on the Shelf at all. I have enough problems with the why-why-why I am already subjected to with Santa. Why would anyone add anything else to the mix??
Maybe I'm just a Scrooge- Christmas pressures are starting to get to me. lol

Cause it's FUNNY!!! ( to the parents)

No need to participate. Or overthink it. You said you laugh at the pictures yourself.

Btw-we don't "do" EOAS!

The things people put on Facebook are not necessarily what they do with the children watching!

It's the same as Halloween tricks and pranks - you see jack-o-lanterns with empty beer cans nearby and the seeds spilling out as if the pumpkin drank too much and threw up, but that doesn't mean that every parent puts that display on the front porch!

I think it's all about marketing and the buzz - to make people feel they are left out if they don't have the elf. It just creates elf sales. Some people just aren't that clever or they get bored, so you wind up with the pranks and the off-color stuff.

Toilet paper wasn't made to be thrown into trees, but some people do it. Shaving cream wasn't made to cover cars, but people do it. Same thing with the elf. Just ignore the negative stuff.

Because it's for a different audience or it's a bit of fun. I personally don't like the elf at all, so there are none here. My cousin does and her elf does things like bring the kids lollypops and cheer on their football team. I think that many of the FB posts are not for children and not families with young children. No one I know personally who has an elf for their young child does anything crass.

I think it's because the parents are just having fun with him. I would hope most of them aren't showing their kids the naughty things the elf does. We don't have an elf on the shelf, but a close friend of ours does. He posts things like this all the time, but I would bet you anything that his niece that lives with him has no idea!

It's really a stress reliever. I love Christmas! I mean I love, love, love this time of year. But I have to admit, I'm a little overtired and overwhelmed right now and could use a little stress reliever. If I went of Facebook and saw what some of my friends were doing with their elves, I bet I'd feel a little bit more relaxed!

When the kids are little he doesn't really get into mischeif he mostly just moves from place to place. But as the kids are older and they then start getting in on the elf moving etc. thats when the funny things happen.

Yeah I never did the Elf on the shelf with my son. The whole concept is kind of lame. I see why parents with younger children may use it to keep them good for the four weeks til Santa thing.

I honestly thought 'elf on the shelf' was a decoration until last yr when our neighbor adopted an elf. Their 6 yr old was Soooooooo excited and raved about the cute things his elf did. Our kids talked about how much they wanted an elf for many months afterwards. Our elf brings thing-like elf pencils for school, Hershey's kisses, etc. which they enjoy-be ause other kids say their elf doesn't bring things (dollar tree has many elf things)
He got into the dog biscuits and wrote a note about how yuk they are. He favors dry erase markers and writes on our China cabinet and picture frames.
But he's forgotten to come once or twice and I've had to Pinterest ideas several times. No bubble baths but I've been considering the kissing booth idea.
It's fun! And tge kids get outta bed excited to see what the elf is up to.

I agree 100%. If the Elf's job is to keep the child on his best behavior, the elf should behave, too.
No elves in my house.

I so totally agree with Julie S! I never would have had this when my kids were little.

BUT..., I have laughed myself silly over some pictures I've seen come across my facebook. The one with the elf and another Christmas character (I forget which!) putting Santa on a grater and marshmellows coming out of the grater was hysterical. (Certainly not for children!) But honestly, other than facebook pictures for adults, what adult would have an elf on a shelf doing naughty things, for other adults?

The naughty pics are adults making fun of the trend, not things most parents would actually do with their elfs (I don't know of any of my friends who would put their elf in a hot tub with Barbie, or have them pooping peppermints). Our elf encourages our kids the whole month of December with little notes, sends notes of congrats when they have done something cool, or reminders if our kids are making bad choices. The kids love him, and I do as well, as it has been a 3 year tradition so far in our home. :)

Parents with a 3 or 4 year old will follow the intended purpose.

Parents with 7 year olds might be bored, especially after 3 years of the elf.

Others (the ones who post photos of the elf with a mirror, white powder in lines and and rolled up dollar in the elf's hand) hopefully are trying to win the most shocking elf activity award for adults.

I can't believe people do this *&$! personally that's just me. Overworked over stressed don't have time for one more mess ;)

We have an elf. Actually two elves. When they first showed up in stores I didn't buy one because I already had an old knee-hugging elf from the 1960s or something like that. It is one of a pair that used to always sit on the taper candles that my grandma put by her fireplace at Christmas time. As a kid, I loved the elves. Starting elf on a shelf with my kids was more of a nostalgia thing for me.

I never do naughty things. Half the time I don't even remember to move the darn things. If there is a situation that presents itself, I will sometimes insert the elf into the scene. For example, my kids didn't pick up their Spot It game, so the elves sat down to play. Or I put the elves in the midst of the Star Wars lego collection that is currently on our entertainment center. On Christmas Eve I always put the elves by the tree or stockings or cookies for Santa. I take a picture and print it out with a message on the back from the elves. A naughty elf not only would cause more work for me, but also contradicts the whole premise that the elf is watching to let Santa know if you've been naughty or nice.

I don't really present it that way to my kids. It is more of the elves coming to visit before Christmas. My kids (5 and 7) look forward to them showing up every year. At the Festival of Trees Thanksgiving weekend they had a mailbox set up so kids could write letters to Santa. Our 5 year old instead wrote a letter to our elves telling them how he couldn't wait to see them again. For me, it is just more of the Magic of Christmas and childhood.

Adults get this going thinking it will be a 'fun' tradition and then get bored with it.
So they start making the elf do things that are out of character for it's original purpose - they sort of go for shock value.
I don't like children s things acting out like adults.
Fortunately our son was too old for it when this first came out but I think the whole concept of something always watching/reporting-on you is kind of creepy.
Santa employs a spy network?
That's not how I envision him.

Until that elf gets off the shelf and starts cleaning the house, I don't want anything to do with it! lol It's cute, its funny (sometimes) but I just can't jump into that band wagon.

I hate that creepy elf. But I find the bad elf to be hysterical. Barbie on a stripper pole with the elf watching - that's funny!!

The elf who flies around is for the kids. The bad elf is for the adults. The kids don't know about the bad elf.